#303 - Joe Wojcik - Confetti, Special Effects, Event Production & AI in the Entertainment Industry

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I would say I thought, well,
it's, you know, it's confetti.

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How hard could it be to learn
the confetti business?

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When I tell people I'm in the
confetti business or talk about

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artistry motion, a lot of people
just react with surprise and

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they say, wow, I never really
thought about that.

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Like a company to develop a
confetti, you see it and it's in

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all these events, but you never
really think about how it gets

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there or who's behind that.
Hello there, and again, thanks

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for joining me today.
I appreciate having everyone

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here.
We love our listeners, of

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course, and without you, we
don't have much of A podcast.

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So keep listening, sharing,
liking, subscribing.

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You know the game, you know the
routine.

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We appreciate you and we love
that we continue growing this

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podcast.
Really super proud of the fact

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that we now have arguably the
largest brand in all of lighting

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and most iconic brand in all of
lighting, ETC, as a new sponsor.

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And secondly, Artistry in
Motion, who are arguably the

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largest name in confetti.
Really happy to have them on

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board as well.
Very colorful brand, very nice

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company.
They've had some really cool

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things that they've been
involved with recently.

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And actually we have their
President, Joe Wojick on today

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who will share some of that
information with us.

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And so yes, thank you to both of
our new sponsors.

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We appreciate it.
Of course, again, our platform

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keeps growing and that is
evidence of it.

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So of course, I have to talk
about AII, haven't talked to you

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for a bit about this and there's
a few things I wanted to bring

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up today.
Have you heard about this, this

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term vibe coding?
And it's funny because it was

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actually named by I forget the
guy's name.

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It's like Alex Alexi, you know,
a Russian name basically, but

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he's a famous AI creator.
He's on X and probably other

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platforms as well.
Talks a lot about AI, talks a

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lot about coding and really,
really smart dude.

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But he was just talking one day
and said, you know, instead of

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setting up a, a complex coding
environment, I love to use tools

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like cursor and lovable and, and
now bolt and some of the these

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other ones that are out who,
where you can just do voice

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prompts or you can type in
prompts and say, I want a

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website that's going to do this
cool thing and, and it's going

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to look like this and create
this and whatever.

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And boom, it just starts coding.
So it's, it's kind of like

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jamming or, or just kind of
goofing around and ending up

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with really cool coding that's
done by AI.

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And so he, he coined the term
vibing and it just took off and

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vibe coding became sort of AI
coding.

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And so all of these really cool
new AI products.

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And it's funny because typical
of AI, like one thing is really

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hot.
Like I remember just talking

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about and seeing and trying Bolt
maybe two weeks ago, and now I'm

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seeing 20 other apps out there
that do the same basic thing

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that Bolt does.
It happens very quickly in AI.

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Obviously it's a very quick
technology, so it would only

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make sense that it moves along
very quickly as well.

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So yeah, that's kind of cool.
And, and So what, what is

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vibing?
What does it do?

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Like I said, it's instead of
setting up, you know, this

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really complex coding
environment with, with coders

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and, and you know, lots and lots
of tools and, and tech and

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stuff, you are literally just
prompting a, an AI coding engine

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of some sort and telling it what
you want to do and, and it'll

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start producing results
immediately.

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So it's sort of like rapid
prototyping in the manufacturing

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world or in songwriting, instead
of getting the whole band

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together and sitting around in
writing circles and, you know,

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doing it in a very sort of
official way.

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It's, it's like grabbing a
guitar and sitting out in your

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backyard and, and singing along
and strutting along and you end

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up writing, you know, a huge hit
or something.

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So that's vibing.
It's just getting in a vibe

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where you're just communicating
with this AI tool that is

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building stuff and you're going,
no, that's not what I want.

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This is I want something a
little more like this or a

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little more like that.
And so he called it vibing and

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it's stuck in and that is now
called vibe coding.

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Of course, with AI we've learned
all kinds of new words.

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So another one that people come
to me about a lot and they say,

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how are you using AI agents?
And what exactly are there are

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our AI agents?
And it's a pretty simple term

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for a pretty general topic of
they're, they're helpers.

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They're basically AI helpers
that it's like having a sidekick

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that is an AI app or an AI tool.
And you know, digital

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assistants, some people call
them digital assistants.

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They can do all sorts of tasks.
They can, they can code simple

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things.
They can make decisions, solve

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problems, search for things, a
lot of things AI agents can do.

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And in fact, I'm actually in the
process.

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We're in a dev cycle development
cycle right now with Gear Source

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where we're building some really
new cool technology and a lot of

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stuff on top of Gear Source
right now.

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And we're enabling a whole bunch
of agents in doing this.

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So we're not using agents to
build it, but we're building

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agents into the process so that
our our customers can use agents

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to do things like search for
gear and and other things like

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that.
So I'm not going to tell you too

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much about it because we are
going to make some announcements

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in the next couple of months,
but we are engaging not just one

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agent.
So it it's a little different

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than having employees or
whatever.

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Of course, they're not human,
but also agents tend to be very

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specialized.
So you might have an agent that

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does this one task really,
really well and it does it all

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the time.
You might have another agent

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that does something else.
And so that's, that's basically

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what agents are and how you
would enable them.

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And I think many of you are
probably already using agents,

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AI agents, and you don't know
it.

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I know we are, we use them in
HubSpot pretty regularly, which

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is our CRM and our communication
hub.

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We use agents daily in that I
used agent, the agents, you

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know, probably 20 times a day
and for different things.

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And so, you know, agents for
especially small companies, if

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you're a small business and
you're always thinking, Oh my

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God, I wish I could hire five
more people, or I wish I could

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find 5 more people, or I wish I
could clone myself is a common

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thing, especially among us
entrepreneurs because we think

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we can do everything right and
everybody else can't, which

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isn't true of course, but you
know, agents do that for you.

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Agents basically can take things
that you would normally do that

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take two hours and do it in 30
seconds or two minutes and do it

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for you where all you have to do
is say, hey, agent do this and

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it'll do it to the best of its
ability, which is usually even

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better than you would do it
yourself.

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So I definitely would recommend
that you yourself go figure out

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a use of agents.
We are going to see desk

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programming agents.
We're going to see, you know,

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any tasks that are complex and
take a lot of your time.

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I can see agents getting
involved in those tasks in our

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industry and every other
industry.

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And So what else did I want to
talk about?

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Oh, I'm hearing about this this
bubble.

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You remember the tech bubble.
If you're old like me, you

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probably remember a few bubbles,
but there was a big tech bubble

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in in 1999, two thousand.
This is when pets.com and some

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of these massivesocks.com, there
were like a bunch of sites that

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were started up in this, this
boom, this tech boom at the end

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of the 90s that were just
ridiculous.

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Like pets.com, sox.com were two
of the, the ones that I can

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remember really well, but there
were hundreds of them.

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And it created this bubble where
it burst and lots of people lost

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lots and lots of money.
And I mean, these companies were

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raising like $10 million in a,
in an, a round of, of venture

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capital and spending half of it
on a launch party for something

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that was never going to make any
money at all.

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And it was just crazy.
It was loony times.

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And so people are saying there's
another sort of bust coming in

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AI right now.
And it's partially driven by the

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amount of money that has been
spent on on these data centers,

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You know, these massive, massive
structures that they're spending

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hundreds of billions, trillions
of dollars building these data

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Centers for AI.
And one of the things that AI is

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doing right now is becoming much
more efficient where it doesn't

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need as much compute.
And when the compute goes down,

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you don't need these data
centers quite as much as you

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used to.
And there are also starting to

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be competitors to NVIDIA who are
coming out with with more

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efficient chips or more
efficient technology.

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And so, you know, when things
grow as quickly as AI has, you

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know, just like a blink
basically.

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And it's gone from being nothing
to being everywhere.

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You could expect that there's
going to be some stuff that that

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probably doesn't connect well or
doesn't make money, doesn't

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become profitable and, and goes
by the wayside.

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And so of course, again,
investors are going to lose a

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lot of money because they're all
betting on these things that are

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going to become unicorns, which
are these like 1000 X companies,

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you know, you, you buy in at a
value of a million and it ends

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up being a billion within a very
short period of time.

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And a lot of people are just
gonna lose money on this stuff,

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so watch for that.
I'll keep talking to you about

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AI, of course, as always, if
anybody ever wants any kind of

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pointers or anything.
I'm not a genius, but I've been

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using it for a long time and I
understand it pretty well.

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You know, there are certainly
people who are more technical

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than me, but if you are just a
small business owner or, or a

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person who is just like, how do
I get started?

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Like how can I, how can I write
A blog using AI?

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How can I, you know, Google's
hitting me with all these new

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tools and Facebook's hitting me
with all these new tools.

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What do I do with these things?
As you know, like of course,

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everything can write your e-mail
for you.

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It's funny, it's probably one of
the few things I don't use AI

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for right now because I want to
use my own words, not somebody

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else's.
But anyways, reach out to me

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anytime, happy to talk to anyone
and help you through you know

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your AI journey if I can help at
all.

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And before I get on to today's
guest, once again, I want to

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thank both ETC and Artistry in
Motion.

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Amazing new sponsors, love
having you on board.

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Look forward to working together
for a long time.

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So today's guest, Joe Wojick,
and I know I'm spell pronouncing

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it wrong.
If I told you the spelling, you

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wouldn't know how to pronounce
it either.

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But Joe is a seasoned
international business executive

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with over 25 years of experience
in global expansion, operations

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and business transformation.
Having lived in Japan and Hong

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Kong for seven years, he has
successfully launched and grown

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businesses in over 50 countries.
Currently President of Artistry

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in Motion, which we're going to
talk about today, Joe led the

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company to record sales and
profitability in 2023.

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Previously, he held leadership
roles at Herbalife, Rodent and

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Fields, Arbonne, and Delphi
Display Systems, driving

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international growth and
operational excellence.

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As founder of Endurance Business
Solutions, he advises companies

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on strategic market entry.
Joe holds an MBA from California

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State University and ABS in
engineering from Rutgers

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University.
A competitive endurance athlete,

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he has competed multiple Ironman
triathlons and eight Boston

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Marathons.
Where does he find the time?

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Please welcome Joe Wojick.
Joe, good morning.

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How are you?
Hello, Marcel, I'm doing well.

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How about you?
I'm doing OK.

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Yeah, it's, it's what is it
Wednesday, midweek, IE.

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I appreciate you doing this
first and foremost.

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I know it's a little bit early
in the morning over there

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probably.
Oh no, it's 10:30.

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And I was excited to do this
because quite honestly, you

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know, I, along with most of our
industry, probably never thought

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an awful lot about Confetti in
the past.

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And, and I've learned a bunch
about it recently.

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It is a big part of some really
big shows.

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00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:58,640
You know, I could name a bunch
of them, but I think people know

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00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:02,720
Coldplay being at the top of
that list of, of bands who

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00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:08,240
really have made Confetti a huge
part of their shows and Taylor

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00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:09,560
Swift.
And there's loads of them,

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00:13:09,560 --> 00:13:10,560
right?
Yeah, indeed.

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Yeah, Well, no, thank you for
having me on the show.

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00:13:13,040 --> 00:13:14,760
And I'm, I appreciate the
opportunity.

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00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:16,880
And yeah, indeed.
You know, when I tell people I'm

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in the confetti business or
they're, you know, talk about

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00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:22,840
artistry motion, a lot of people
just react with surprise and

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00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:24,680
they say, wow, I never really
thought about that.

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00:13:24,680 --> 00:13:28,120
Like a company developed a
confetti and you know, you see

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00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:31,160
it and it's in all these events,
but you never really think about

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00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:32,560
how it gets there or who's
behind that.

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00:13:32,560 --> 00:13:34,080
So it's, yeah, it's an
interesting.

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00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:36,240
One, I don't think people
understand the scale.

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00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:38,640
You know, the fact that, and
we'll get into it, you know,

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00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:41,840
the, the fact that you're
sending pallets of this stuff

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00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:45,000
out to some of these tours and
you know, people, people just

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00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:47,640
think confetti, it's a little
bag and you're going to kind of

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00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:49,200
throw it at a wedding or
something.

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00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:51,600
And that's all it is.
But you know, I've come to learn

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00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:54,760
a little bit about your company
and it's incredible some of the

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00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:55,960
stuff you do.
So we'll get there.

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00:13:56,360 --> 00:14:01,560
But I, you know, most people
that I have on my podcast,

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00:14:01,560 --> 00:14:05,040
admittedly, I usually know an
awful lot about them because

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00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:08,280
they've been in the industry for
30 or 40 years or more

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00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:11,640
sometimes.
And but you're relatively new to

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00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:13,560
this industry, right?
I am indeed.

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00:14:13,560 --> 00:14:17,720
Yes, I've been with Artistry in
Motion for 5 1/2 years now.

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00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:22,720
And so I'm a, relatively I, I
would say I'm a newcomer in the

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00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:25,200
industry.
And so for me it's exciting and

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00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:28,680
I, I feel like a little kid and
I'm very curious and, you know,

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00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:32,240
I, I, I try to learn as much as
I can and attend trade shows and

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00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:36,200
I go out on our shows and events
and, you know, masquerade as a

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00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:38,400
technician.
And so, yeah, it's, it's, it's

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00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:41,360
pretty exciting.
But I've had kind of a, I'll say

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00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:44,080
kind of a different background,
if you will, from people that

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00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:45,440
have been in the special effects
industry.

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00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:46,840
Yeah.
I want to learn about that, but

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00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:49,000
I want, I want to ask you a
question 1st about what you just

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00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:52,480
said, because, you know, I know
our industry sometimes isn't

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00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:56,240
very kind to people who come
from outside the business.

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00:14:56,360 --> 00:15:01,240
The outsiders coming into our
industry sometimes are not

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00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:04,480
treated the same or maybe
they're not invited in right

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00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:07,440
away into that sort of gold
circle of trust or whatever you

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00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:10,040
want to call it.
Did you see any of that?

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00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:13,880
Like were were people a little,
you know, who's this guy kind of

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00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:16,440
attitude or, or did they just
welcome you instantly?

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00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:20,040
Well, I, I, I'd say in general,
you know, I felt welcome.

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00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:22,800
Or if, if, if there was that
vibe, either I didn't pick up on

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00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:24,160
it or I didn't, I didn't notice
it.

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00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:27,840
You know, I, I think just
certainly when I, when I first

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00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:31,200
got here, I had to, had to learn
the, the confetti industry and

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00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:33,800
the, the special effects
industry and, and our top

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00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:37,000
clients and things like that.
And so as I said, I was, I was

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00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:40,800
anxious to learn and, and
approached it in that manner.

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00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:45,120
And, and I think you know, with
the, the personalities and I've,

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00:15:45,160 --> 00:15:47,920
I've had a great experience so
far with the, with the industry.

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00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:51,440
Proper degrees and a proper
background in proper businesses.

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00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:54,320
You came into this and went,
whoa, you know, this is a

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00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:57,480
business.
And, and because it is,

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00:15:57,480 --> 00:15:59,560
sometimes it's a little wild,
Wild Westy.

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00:15:59,640 --> 00:16:01,640
Yeah, indeed.
And, and I think I have to say

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00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:04,440
that when I, when I first made
the transition into the confetti

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00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:07,800
business from a more
conventional background, I would

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00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:09,880
say I thought, well, it's, you
know, it's confetti.

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00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:11,560
How hard could it be to learn
the confetti business?

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00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:14,280
But I have to say, and I, and I
tell people this all the time,

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00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:15,920
you know, people were bringing
on board.

294
00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:17,720
It's it's, it's pretty tricky,
right?

295
00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:19,440
There's a lot of different
dynamics.

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00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:22,360
Just it's just even in the
production of Fetty, right?

297
00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:26,960
And I'm using a lot of math
skills and geometry and algebra,

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00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:30,680
just determining yields and
different shapes and die cuts

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00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:34,080
and reams and roles and.
Today's podcast is brought to

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00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:37,960
you by Artistry in Motion.
When it's time to make a moment

301
00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:40,240
unforgettable, Artistry in
Motion delivers.

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00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:44,600
Since 1994, they've been the go
to source for top tier confetti

303
00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:48,800
and streamer special effects,
turning ordinary events into

304
00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:51,960
explosive show stopping
experiences.

305
00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:56,040
From concerts and TV productions
to major sporting events and

306
00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:59,480
theme parks, they bring the wow
factor with precision and

307
00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:02,280
creativity.
So whether you need a massive

308
00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:06,000
stadium drop or a subtle picture
perfect cascade, they make it

309
00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:10,319
happen on time, every time.
Their team doesn't just supply,

310
00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:14,520
they collaborate with show
designers, event planners and

311
00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:18,839
production teams to ensure every
effect is camera ready and crowd

312
00:17:18,839 --> 00:17:21,160
approved.
Want to take your event to the

313
00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:24,520
next level?
Hit them up artistryinmotion.com

314
00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:28,960
and let's make memories happen.
You know, you, you invited me

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00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:32,600
out at one point and I visited
and, and saw the factory and got

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00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:37,200
to sort of see under your skirt
in, in how confetti is done

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00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:39,600
really.
And it was way more interesting

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00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:42,840
than I ever expected it to be.
And so I really want to get into

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00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:45,120
that.
But you know, when I was reading

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00:17:45,120 --> 00:17:47,320
your notes today, one of the
things that jumped out at me is

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00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:50,840
you actually lived in Asia for I
think 7 or 8 years, right?

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00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:55,280
I did indeed, yes.
I, I, I was fortunate enough to

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00:17:55,280 --> 00:17:57,960
have an expat assignment and
it's one of those stories a year

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00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:00,480
many times where we're supposed
to be, I was at the large

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00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:03,440
multinational company and you
know, it's supposed to be a two

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00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:07,560
year assignment and it turned
into a little over seven years.

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00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:09,960
And so it was really great.
I'll say personally and

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00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:14,280
professionally, we, we lived in
Hong Kong for two years and then

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00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:18,320
moved to Tokyo for three years
and then back to Hong Kong for

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00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:21,520
another two years.
And so it was very rewarding,

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00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:23,600
you know, I was able to learn a
little bit of the languages in

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00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:26,080
each, each of the location and
the cultures and customs.

333
00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:28,720
Amazing experience.
And it was really, I think

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00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:31,760
shaped me as a person and I, I
wouldn't trade it for the world.

335
00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:35,240
So I, it was a great time, you
know, in my.

336
00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:38,680
So you were married like you
moved your family or your wife

337
00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:40,320
or whoever over there with you
or I?

338
00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:43,480
I did.
No, I just got married and we,

339
00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:46,000
I, I, as a matter of fact, I had
just had a baby.

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00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:50,680
I had a son who's in his 20s now
and we moved over there.

341
00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:52,480
He was, I don't know, three or
four months old.

342
00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:56,160
And so brought him over to Hong
Kong that we had another baby

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00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:59,600
while we were living in Japan.
So yes, the kids were my, my

344
00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:02,600
boys spent a significant portion
of their childhood in Asia.

345
00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:06,000
And so I think that was a
formidable experience.

346
00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:08,400
And yeah, we moved around a
little bit, but.

347
00:19:08,560 --> 00:19:09,800
Yeah, it was.
It was great.

348
00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:12,840
So cool, though.
What a way to to have your so

349
00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:15,680
your your son was how old when
he lived there then?

350
00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:18,760
Like from zero to.
Eight or like zero to seven.

351
00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:20,600
Yeah.
And the second one's like 2.

352
00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:23,080
Very cool, Yeah.
What an experience.

353
00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:26,960
I mean, it'd be even cooler if
he was like 5 till 13 or

354
00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:28,880
something, right?
Where you could really remember

355
00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:30,880
a lot of the cultural stuff.
And.

356
00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:34,400
And yeah.
And then we made quite a, quite

357
00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:38,200
a significant jump.
We moved from from Hong Kong to

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00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:41,040
a small town in Idaho, you know,
3000 people.

359
00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:44,120
And so my kids, that was kind of
a culture shock, you know,

360
00:19:44,120 --> 00:19:47,200
because they were very used to
these big, huge cities and the

361
00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:49,520
hustle and bustle of Asia.
And we moved to a kind of a

362
00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:53,240
sleepy little mountain town in
in the middle of Idaho.

363
00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:57,000
And so that was kind of a a
difficult transition form, but.

364
00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:00,560
I can't even imagine.
Like, you know, for me.

365
00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:04,840
I, I wouldn't even know how to
handle that at my age, let

366
00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:07,600
alone, you know, as a, as a
small kid.

367
00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:13,240
So you moved back to Idaho and
and we what business were you in

368
00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:16,240
when you were in Asia?
So I, I was running some, like I

369
00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:18,120
said, I worked for a large
multinational company.

370
00:20:18,120 --> 00:20:21,000
It was involved in the nutrition
space and I ran some of their

371
00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:23,240
businesses over there.
When I was in Japan, I ran their

372
00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:26,680
Japanese business.
And then when I was in Hong

373
00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:28,800
Kong, I, I looked after their
Asian business.

374
00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:33,240
We had a lot of sales in in
China and all throughout

375
00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:35,520
Southeast Asia.
So I traveled quite a bit,

376
00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:37,480
pretty extensively throughout
the region.

377
00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:40,680
And then when I moved back to
Idaho, I set up my own firm.

378
00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:45,200
I had a consulting firm which
the, the auspices were really

379
00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:50,680
just to help domestic U.S.
companies branch out into Asia

380
00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:53,560
and Europe and Africa.
I had spent a, a decent part of

381
00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:57,320
my career before moving to Asia,
working in Europe and Africa.

382
00:20:57,640 --> 00:21:01,680
And so I, I set up this sort of
global consulting firm that for

383
00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:05,120
companies that wanted to, if, if
they wanted to diversify or

384
00:21:05,120 --> 00:21:07,920
expand their portfolio, you
know, how do we take our

385
00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:10,440
products to Asia?
And so with my background, I

386
00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:14,640
knew a lot of, you know, legal
and real estate and tax and, you

387
00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:16,880
know, permits and approvals,
cultural.

388
00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:20,680
Cultural like, you know, I know
that I started doing business

389
00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:24,600
with Asian companies, both on
the purchasing from them side,

390
00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:27,240
but also on, on selling to Asian
companies.

391
00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:31,560
And often times I just bumped my
head on things where it was

392
00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:35,240
like, Oh no, you can't say that
or you can't do that or, or they

393
00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:38,760
prefer if you do it this way or,
you know, don't ever ask for

394
00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:42,280
this or whatever.
And I, I was just like, you

395
00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:45,560
know, typical of me.
I dive in head first into things

396
00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:50,520
and and figure it out and, and
you know, I ran into a few

397
00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:53,920
situations where I needed some
correction, you know?

398
00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:55,920
Yeah.
And that's what I think I, I

399
00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:58,880
brought, I was able to help
navigate those, you know,

400
00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:02,240
whether it's communication or
customs or traditions or just a,

401
00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:05,280
a way of doing business in
addition to sort of the nuts and

402
00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:08,240
bolts of how to, you know, enter
a country and you know, get

403
00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:11,720
product approvals and permitting
and you know, taxes and all that

404
00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:14,320
stuff.
But just the more you know the

405
00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:16,280
the softer side is is important
as well.

406
00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:19,240
So Speaking of bump in your
head, did you wake up in Idaho

407
00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:21,520
one morning and just bump your
head and go, I I need to get

408
00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:24,440
into the confetti business or
how did, how did that all come?

409
00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:28,400
About well, I'll, I'll tell you
when I, I had kind of a

410
00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:31,080
circuitous way to, to the
confetti business.

411
00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:34,400
And you know, as we, as we dig
into the story of artistry of

412
00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:40,040
motion, one of the, the primary
owners, he was, he, he and I

413
00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:41,520
knew each other from a previous
life.

414
00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:45,360
I first started out my career in
engineering capacity and I was

415
00:22:45,360 --> 00:22:50,280
working at a, a very small
company and kind of a funny

416
00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:52,160
story.
I, I was invited, I played

417
00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:54,880
basketball in high school, I
played lacrosse in college and,

418
00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:57,520
and I was invited to a
basketball tournament, A2 on 2

419
00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:00,080
basketball tournament for this,
this company.

420
00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:01,360
It was like a weekend type
thing.

421
00:23:01,360 --> 00:23:02,880
And I got paired up with this
gentleman.

422
00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:08,200
His name is Richard Graves and
he was the general manager of

423
00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:10,360
the company.
So I was in my early 20s and,

424
00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:12,840
and we ended up winning the
tournament.

425
00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:14,960
We ended up winning this two and
two basketball tournament

426
00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:17,160
together.
And so we developed a little bit

427
00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:19,960
of friendship and he took an
interest in my career, I would

428
00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:22,120
say.
And he, I, I would say he was

429
00:23:22,120 --> 00:23:26,840
kind of a mentor to me.
He ended up moving me over from

430
00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:29,960
my engineering position over to
sales and marketing and got me

431
00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:33,320
involved in, you know, contract
negotiation and sent me around a

432
00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:38,160
trade shows and international
travel and business, if you

433
00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:41,400
will.
And then he also advised me and

434
00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:43,400
actually paid for me to go get
my MBA.

435
00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:45,880
So I went to school at night for
4 1/2 years.

436
00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:48,360
I I worked during the day and
went to school at night at a

437
00:23:48,360 --> 00:23:50,800
local College in Southern
California.

438
00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:55,360
And so, yeah, so we, we had this
relationship and, and then we

439
00:23:55,360 --> 00:23:56,600
kind of both went our separate
ways.

440
00:23:56,600 --> 00:23:59,880
I kind of moved over to Asia.
He went and actually bought a

441
00:23:59,920 --> 00:24:01,960
confetti company.
He and his business partner

442
00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:08,040
bought this Confetti company.
I think it's been 20, gosh, 23

443
00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:10,160
years ago or so, they bought,
they bought the confetti

444
00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:11,960
company.
And so he and I remained in

445
00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:14,920
touch and, and you know, when I
was in Asia, he would invite me

446
00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:17,280
to the Super Bowl every year as
one of his technicians.

447
00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:21,880
And so it was, it was tricky for
me to get over to the US and go

448
00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:22,920
to the Super Bowl for the
weekend.

449
00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:24,920
So I always had to politely say
no.

450
00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:27,640
And when I moved back to the US
and I moved back to Idaho, he

451
00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:30,440
said, hey, what about this year?
You know, why don't you come and

452
00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:33,480
be on our confetti team and, you
know, see how it's done?

453
00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:36,360
So it, it was super fun.
You know, you fly in on a Friday

454
00:24:36,360 --> 00:24:38,880
and Saturday rehearsal and
Sunday shoot confetti and you

455
00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:42,400
leave on Monday morning.
And and so I did that for a

456
00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:46,520
number of years and just as as
his friend, if you will, and he

457
00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:50,160
hosted me and I got to learn
just one little sliver of the

458
00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:53,400
confetti business in that sense
where I I was a technician at

459
00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:55,640
the Super Bowl.
And you got to go to the Super

460
00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:56,960
Bowl.
You know which.

461
00:24:57,080 --> 00:24:59,400
Isn't that easy so.
It, it was great.

462
00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:03,920
And so towards the end of his
tenure, you know, he was a

463
00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:07,040
little bit older and said, Hey,
I'm, I've, I've been doing this

464
00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:10,440
for 20 years.
I'm, you know, getting tired and

465
00:25:10,440 --> 00:25:12,160
I want to do some other stuff in
my life.

466
00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:16,280
Why don't you join me here?
And, you know, you, you run the

467
00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:18,440
company out, you know, give you
some training and background,

468
00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:20,480
you learn the business for a
little while, then we'll turn

469
00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:23,120
the reins over to you.
And so, so I did, I was at a

470
00:25:23,120 --> 00:25:25,720
point in my career where it, it
sounded fun and I was looking

471
00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:29,320
for a change.
And I, I made the jump and I,

472
00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:32,640
you know, sort of shut down the
consulting business and moved

473
00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:36,680
over to artistry of motion.
And you know, as, as I've heard

474
00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:39,240
on some of your other podcasts
where you talk about COVID, you

475
00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:42,200
know, it was probably not, you
know, looking at career choices,

476
00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:45,160
it wasn't great because a few
months after I joined, you know,

477
00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:47,400
basically we had to go into
hibernation for COVID.

478
00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:50,760
And so I was questioning my
career choice at that point.

479
00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:55,120
But like I said, we, we did
everything we could, kind of

480
00:25:55,120 --> 00:25:57,920
went into hibernation and got
some loans to keep us afloat,

481
00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:02,360
kept just a really small poor
group of employees here and just

482
00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:03,960
I can get my way through it.
Yeah.

483
00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:07,720
I can only imagine you went to
basically 0% of revenue, right?

484
00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:12,320
Like it was not many people
using COVID or competitive

485
00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:14,640
during COVID.
No, there were no events.

486
00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:16,600
There were no theme parks.
Open it.

487
00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:19,520
Really, weddings and stuff like
small events, like you couldn't

488
00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:22,600
even make it on graduations and
weddings and like the little

489
00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:26,120
tiny business.
Yeah, so it was, it was pretty

490
00:26:26,120 --> 00:26:27,760
tough.
I mean we had some, you know,

491
00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:32,360
drive by commencements and
graduations, if you will and

492
00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:36,000
just these tiny little events
and we use the the opportunity

493
00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:38,240
to redo our website and and see
things like that.

494
00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:41,720
So, so, but you're, you're
right, it was really mean times

495
00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:44,120
as as most of the other
companies in the special effects

496
00:26:44,120 --> 00:26:48,000
industry were certainly so, but
then certainly came out of it

497
00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:51,920
and went very well in terms of
coming out of COVID.

498
00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:54,480
We had some hiccups like
everybody else did just getting

499
00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:57,040
back online.
But so that's why I got here.

500
00:26:57,040 --> 00:26:59,160
You know, it's been the long
circuitous route, but I'm

501
00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:00,320
really.
I had no idea.

502
00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:01,520
That's it.
That's.

503
00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:06,240
A great Story Two Days podcast
is proudly brought to you by

504
00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:09,640
ETC.
For 50 years, ETC has made a

505
00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:13,120
name for itself in much more
than the theater world.

506
00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:17,160
ETC Lighting, rigging and
control technology has scaled

507
00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:21,520
not only across the entire
globe, but also to nearly any

508
00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:24,720
building size and type you could
possibly imagine.

509
00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:28,880
Broadway shows, rock concerts,
sports stadiums, outdoor parks,

510
00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:32,320
TV studios, convention centers,
you name it, have all trusted

511
00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:37,520
ETC to make their design
beautiful and their spaces safe.

512
00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:41,480
A big part of that trust comes
from ETC's renowned customer

513
00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:44,560
support.
The global 24/7 tech support

514
00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:48,440
team stands behind every ETC
product, whether you're in the

515
00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:51,840
middle of tech on a high school
theater production, or

516
00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:55,960
scheduling a light show on the
facade of an iconic building.

517
00:27:56,280 --> 00:28:00,600
ET CS support has always been
incredibly responsive and

518
00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:03,840
helpful.
But now employees have even more

519
00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:06,440
of a personal stake in
maintaining that reputation.

520
00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:10,280
The company has become 100%
employee owned.

521
00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:14,680
Each person building the
fixtures, developing the control

522
00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:19,360
software and picking up calls is
an owner at ETC.

523
00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:24,360
Outstanding support, reliable
products, innovative technology.

524
00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:29,040
This is the foundation of
excellence that ETC has built

525
00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:33,080
over the past 50 years.
Oh what?

526
00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:36,920
What year did you start it?
Name. 2019 I started it.

527
00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:39,160
Yeah, just just before COVID,
right?

528
00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:44,680
Yes, yes indeed.
So artistry in Motion, I, I

529
00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:49,440
guess is a sort of SMB, you
know, not not a huge business,

530
00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:54,320
not a ton of employees or
anything, but how, how do you

531
00:28:54,320 --> 00:28:57,160
first of all, how do you get
involved in some of the larger

532
00:28:57,160 --> 00:29:01,120
deals that they have?
Like are there not, you know,

533
00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:04,200
mega companies out there like,
you know, on, on the production

534
00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:06,520
side, you've got solo tech and
PRG.

535
00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:11,200
Is there not a solo tech and PRG
of, of confetti or is confetti

536
00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:13,000
niche?
And and it's more small

537
00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:16,200
businesses that are really
focused on confetti.

538
00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:20,200
Yeah, I think we're, we're just,
yeah, I think we've built up

539
00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:23,400
such a a good reputation, I'd
say in the industry through many

540
00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:25,800
different verticals, right.
You've got the touring industry,

541
00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:29,680
you've got professional sports
with theme parks.

542
00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:32,960
And so I think, you know, over
the years, in the last, you

543
00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:37,840
know, 25, almost 30 years now,
the company has built up such a

544
00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:40,440
good reputation and we've got
great service and great products

545
00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:42,600
I believe.
And so that has really helped us

546
00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:48,160
to avail ourselves to all these
different companies of the PRG.

547
00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:52,640
They're a client of ours and we
saw them hardware and then we

548
00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:55,800
have a number of clients that
are integrators, if you will,

549
00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:58,880
special effects companies that
will offer everything.

550
00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:01,040
And we're one small part.
So we're the confetti and

551
00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:04,680
streamer experts, if you will.
And then they can offer to their

552
00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:07,240
client, you know, the haze and
the fog and the cryo and the

553
00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:09,440
pyro and things like that.
Yeah.

554
00:30:09,840 --> 00:30:13,040
So you were saying that when you
got into the business, you

555
00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:15,800
didn't realize how how
complicated it was.

556
00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:18,320
You thought, you know, how
difficult could this really be?

557
00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:20,520
We're just blasting a little
piece of paper up into the air.

558
00:30:22,120 --> 00:30:25,360
So what what are some of the
complications of the confetti

559
00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:26,280
business?
Well.

560
00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:29,400
I would say, you know, certainly
the, the raw materials, right,

561
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:33,120
or supply chain.
And we, we source all of our

562
00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:35,960
confetti, all of our tissue
confetti and our metallic

563
00:30:35,960 --> 00:30:38,200
confetti, all of our, our raw
materials are sourced from the

564
00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:42,520
United States.
And so it's all has to be flame

565
00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:44,960
retardant, right?
All these, all these arenas and

566
00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:47,200
venues, you have to have flame
retardant material.

567
00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:51,240
So we have to ensure the, the
quality and the consistency and

568
00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:54,040
the inventory management.
And, you know, there's some

569
00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:56,360
pretty large tours that come
through us and we have to make

570
00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:59,840
sure that we have enough raw
material on hand to be able to

571
00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:02,560
fulfill those those orders.
And it's a lot of logistics.

572
00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:05,120
You know, when these tours are
are going on, we've got to make

573
00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:08,040
drops at the right time.
So they have enough to carry on

574
00:31:08,040 --> 00:31:10,480
the truck to get them through a
few shows and then meet up with

575
00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:13,200
the tour at the next show.
And so we've got to coordinate

576
00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:15,320
all that.
And then, you know, certainly

577
00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:17,920
the, the, the basics of the nuts
and bolts in terms of pricing

578
00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:20,600
and figuring out what the, what
the yield is going to be from

579
00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:25,240
the raw material and what the,
what you know, the sizes and

580
00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:27,680
shapes and dimensions.
And it's really just helping,

581
00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:30,240
helping our clients with, you
know, sort of their vision and

582
00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:33,640
their budget and, and what they
want to see and how we can help

583
00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:37,080
them get there both with the,
the confetti itself and with the

584
00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:40,600
equipment that we sell or rent
to, to our clients.

585
00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:44,320
So like even you were saying
sizes and shapes and dimensions

586
00:31:44,320 --> 00:31:46,480
and stuff.
So not all confetti's the same

587
00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:49,720
like I would assume, you know,
confetti is all like either a

588
00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:52,800
square rectangular piece of
paper that sort of flutters in

589
00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:55,760
the air and and it's all made
out of the same paper.

590
00:31:55,760 --> 00:31:58,880
And I guess there's probably
different colors, but.

591
00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:01,680
Yeah, no, I mean there's, you
know, there's a standard

592
00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:05,240
rectangular shape of confetti
and which is kind of the

593
00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:07,560
generic, if you will, it's right
inch and a half.

594
00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:11,720
I think by 3/4 of an inch is
kind of the standard size of a

595
00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:13,680
piece of rectangular tissue
confetti.

596
00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:17,640
And yet we do everything from we
call Pixie dust, it's quarter

597
00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:21,360
inch squares.
And we'll do snow effects for

598
00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:24,320
many, many clients where they'll
want to replicate snow.

599
00:32:24,320 --> 00:32:26,680
And that's kind of a combination
of a three quarter inch square

600
00:32:26,680 --> 00:32:28,600
and 1/2 inch square mixed
together.

601
00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:33,320
We can also do special shapes.
We have probably 200 shapes in

602
00:32:33,320 --> 00:32:36,600
our library right now and
everything from leaves to

603
00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:41,720
letters to numbers to pumpkins
and stars and robots.

604
00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:45,360
And we've got a couple 100
different shapes and, and we,

605
00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:47,800
we're making them all the time.
We'll have a client come to us

606
00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:52,000
and say I need a, a baseball bat
or I need a, you know, a special

607
00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:55,200
triangle or a certain company
logo.

608
00:32:56,040 --> 00:33:00,120
Yes, we do a lot of foam money.
And so we have, I'd say, unique

609
00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:06,160
capability where we can print
foam money on both sides with

610
00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:09,560
fire retardant, flame retardant
paper.

611
00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:11,880
And so we, we have that
capability.

612
00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:14,560
We're seeing that more and more,
I think as as confetti people

613
00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:18,280
want to have a more, you know,
enticing look or something new

614
00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:21,280
and different.
You know, Usher last year at the

615
00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:25,040
half time in Super Bowl had some
money that, that came down and

616
00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:29,680
that was provided by us And we
worked with pyrotechnico on that

617
00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:33,440
and, and which is a well known
company in the industry and, and

618
00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:36,320
we're able to facilitate the, we
call them Usher Bucks.

619
00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:40,280
And so, like I said, we, we have
some capability both that, you

620
00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:42,720
know, not just, you know,
cutting, you know, little

621
00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:45,520
rectangles, but you know,
different shapes, different

622
00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:50,480
sizes of rectangles or squares.
And then custom confetti, which

623
00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:55,520
can be, you know, it's custom
imprinted with a logo or a, you

624
00:33:55,520 --> 00:34:01,720
know, a phrase or some verbiage
along with the, the full money

625
00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:04,040
and, and things like that.
We have a, a particular product

626
00:34:04,040 --> 00:34:08,120
called Techniflect that's an
embossed metallic confetti that

627
00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:11,800
is, it doesn't cling as much as
a regular PVC and it's easy to

628
00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:15,280
clean up and it, it creates an
amazing look with with lights.

629
00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:19,960
And so, so we have that that
particular.

630
00:34:20,080 --> 00:34:23,320
When you guys like there's
probably some science to this,

631
00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:24,840
right?
Like you're not just cutting

632
00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:27,880
different sizes of paper.
And I mean, even just like, so

633
00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:29,440
you're printing every single one
of these.

634
00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:32,639
Like if you're doing a, a dollar
bill confetti or whatever, it's

635
00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:36,199
printed on both sides on every
single one of them times 10,000

636
00:34:36,199 --> 00:34:38,120
or however many of them getting
blasted out there.

637
00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:41,679
That's wild.
But when I, when I'm talking

638
00:34:41,679 --> 00:34:45,440
about science, like so you
mentioned, I think Pixie dust

639
00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:47,639
and, and snow effects and stuff.
Yeah.

640
00:34:47,639 --> 00:34:51,480
So are you actually like testing
cutting different shapes and

641
00:34:51,480 --> 00:34:54,760
sizes and materials to make them
fly differently so they look

642
00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:57,840
more realistic?
Like snow or Pixie dust or

643
00:34:57,840 --> 00:34:59,320
whatever?
Yeah, absolutely.

644
00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:00,440
Yeah.
We've got a little testing

645
00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:03,720
facility in the back and we, you
know, we'll fire up whether it's

646
00:35:03,720 --> 00:35:06,320
our silent storm or a big blast
or mini blast, whatever, you

647
00:35:06,320 --> 00:35:07,920
know, we have a a lot of
different equipment.

648
00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:09,080
These are like the to launch
and.

649
00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:10,800
Disperse.
Yeah, the cannons.

650
00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:14,040
So we have everything from, you
know, any, you could do anything

651
00:35:14,040 --> 00:35:17,640
from like a little hand toss to
a streamer cup to a, a little

652
00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:21,440
handheld confetti launcher up
to, you know, our big shots.

653
00:35:21,440 --> 00:35:23,760
And then we've got sound storms,
a big blasters and mini

654
00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:25,960
blasters.
So we've got an entire suite of

655
00:35:25,960 --> 00:35:28,600
equipment to, to launch or
disperse the confetti.

656
00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:30,560
And then we will do some
testing.

657
00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:33,040
Yeah, we, we will do testing and
look at, you know, how it

658
00:35:33,040 --> 00:35:37,120
flutters and how it falls and,
and, you know, just dial it in

659
00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:40,280
in that sense and, and make sure
that the, the effect that we're

660
00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:43,040
helping to create is, you know,
meets what the, the client's

661
00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:46,600
looking for.
Yeah, and so like, especially on

662
00:35:46,600 --> 00:35:49,600
these bigger events, you know,
like Super Bowl or Taylor Swift

663
00:35:49,600 --> 00:35:53,920
or Coldplay or whatever, is
there not like a problem where

664
00:35:53,920 --> 00:35:56,960
these venues or whatever are
like, what am I supposed to do

665
00:35:56,960 --> 00:35:59,520
with all this stuff?
You know, like you're making a

666
00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:03,160
mess in a sense.
But I, I guess on the flip side

667
00:36:03,160 --> 00:36:06,720
of that, like people who are at
those events are probably trying

668
00:36:06,720 --> 00:36:09,400
to grab that stuff too, because
they're like, hey, this is like

669
00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:11,480
a momento.
I can go put it on eBay.

670
00:36:12,240 --> 00:36:14,120
No, indeed, indeed, no, that's a
great comment.

671
00:36:14,120 --> 00:36:18,000
And we, we have, we have
recognized that that trend, if

672
00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:21,200
you will, that that memorabilia
type of confetti or souvenir

673
00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:23,320
confetti.
And so we just entered into a

674
00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:26,080
partnership with a company
called The Realist and they

675
00:36:26,080 --> 00:36:32,400
will, they will source memorable
items in the sports and

676
00:36:32,400 --> 00:36:37,840
entertainment area and you know,
either auction it off or sell

677
00:36:37,840 --> 00:36:41,720
it.
And so we just did a, a a thing

678
00:36:41,720 --> 00:36:45,080
with them where they're selling
some of the Philadelphia Eagles

679
00:36:45,080 --> 00:36:46,680
confetti from the Super Bowl
and.

680
00:36:46,720 --> 00:36:49,280
So wow, that's crazy.
Go on their website and it's

681
00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:52,040
the, it's the confetti.
So we, we like to think of it,

682
00:36:52,080 --> 00:36:54,600
hey, we're helping clean it up.
And then there's also a

683
00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:56,960
secondary market for the
collectibles.

684
00:36:57,600 --> 00:36:59,680
But it's just fake, right?
Like, isn't it you?

685
00:36:59,720 --> 00:37:02,320
You're just printing special
stuff to put in those little

686
00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:04,400
packages or whatever.
No, this is stuff that was

687
00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:06,240
actually on the field at the
Super Bowl.

688
00:37:06,240 --> 00:37:09,600
So we we collect it and then we
authenticate it.

689
00:37:09,640 --> 00:37:11,880
They have authenticators there
on hand.

690
00:37:11,880 --> 00:37:15,000
So we collect through this the
both the end of the game trophy

691
00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:17,920
and the Super Bowl Vince
Lombardi shaped trophy.

692
00:37:18,240 --> 00:37:20,840
And it's it's collected, it's
authenticated, it's been flown,

693
00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:24,280
it's on the field.
And then the the realist will

694
00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:28,240
package it in a, you know, in
this case, it's like a shakeable

695
00:37:28,240 --> 00:37:30,640
can kind of a see through and
you can shake it up and see the

696
00:37:30,640 --> 00:37:32,320
confetti.
And it's got, you know,

697
00:37:32,320 --> 00:37:35,840
Philadelphia Eagles defeated
Kansas City Chiefs February

698
00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:37,400
2005.
It's got the date.

699
00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:39,200
It's it's a memorabilia type
thing.

700
00:37:39,200 --> 00:37:41,520
And so.
We fear the smells from the

701
00:37:41,560 --> 00:37:42,360
floor.
Yeah, exactly.

702
00:37:42,520 --> 00:37:44,120
It's got everything.
Yeah, it's got everything.

703
00:37:44,120 --> 00:37:48,320
So we think that it could be a
market for us where where we can

704
00:37:48,320 --> 00:37:52,160
capitalize with our access and
with the the confetti we're

705
00:37:52,160 --> 00:37:55,880
doing for some of these unique,
unique environments to be able

706
00:37:55,880 --> 00:37:58,400
to offer memorabilia confetti
and so.

707
00:37:58,440 --> 00:38:02,240
Seems to make so much sense like
because the stuff is literally a

708
00:38:02,240 --> 00:38:04,520
problem, right?
So somebody's got to clean it

709
00:38:04,520 --> 00:38:07,920
all up.
And why not turn that like it's

710
00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:09,920
recycling in a sense, you're
recycling it.

711
00:38:09,920 --> 00:38:12,120
And indeed, yeah.
And covering the cost of

712
00:38:12,120 --> 00:38:14,880
cleanup.
At the same time and all of our

713
00:38:14,880 --> 00:38:18,480
all of our tissue confetti is
very environmentally friendly.

714
00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:22,680
So it's it's all recyclable,
it's all biodegradable, it's all

715
00:38:22,680 --> 00:38:25,600
a flammatory and it's all made
in the United States from post

716
00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:28,440
industrial consumer material.
So a lot of people say, wow, you

717
00:38:28,440 --> 00:38:31,320
guys are just making a big mess.
You know, we'd like to think of

718
00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:32,480
ourselves.
I mean, certainly there's a,

719
00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:35,600
there's a trend with
sustainability and, and caring

720
00:38:35,600 --> 00:38:38,000
about the environment.
We'd like to think that even

721
00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:41,320
though we're making a mess, it's
a, it's, it's a, it's a clean

722
00:38:41,320 --> 00:38:43,400
mess, if you will.
And it's biodegradable,

723
00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:46,000
Recyclable.
You, you've mentioned a few

724
00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:51,040
times that, that it's all
sourced in the US and is that

725
00:38:51,040 --> 00:38:56,720
like because you know, you're
Patriots or is that because the

726
00:38:56,720 --> 00:38:59,800
products are better?
Like you're, you're obviously

727
00:38:59,800 --> 00:39:03,280
there's always a lure to buy
things in other countries,

728
00:39:03,280 --> 00:39:06,000
especially Asian countries,
China, etcetera.

729
00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:10,320
There's always a lure there to
do that based on profitability.

730
00:39:10,320 --> 00:39:13,320
So if I'm going to sell
something for $10, I could buy

731
00:39:13,320 --> 00:39:16,960
it in the US for, for five and
make a decent profit, or I could

732
00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:20,240
buy it in China for $0.30 and
make an enormous profit.

733
00:39:21,400 --> 00:39:23,600
So why?
Why?

734
00:39:25,320 --> 00:39:29,040
Why is that a thing?
Well, I to be, to be Canada, we

735
00:39:29,040 --> 00:39:34,360
have looked at Asian sourcing
and so, so far we haven't been

736
00:39:34,360 --> 00:39:39,120
able to find a source in Asia
that has the, the quality and

737
00:39:39,120 --> 00:39:42,880
the consistency and the, the
properties that we need, you

738
00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:45,640
know, the, the flamer chart.
And so we, we have looked, we

739
00:39:45,640 --> 00:39:48,560
have looked and, and certainly
it's, it's less expensive, but

740
00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:51,480
there's also shipping and now
there's duties and who knows

741
00:39:51,480 --> 00:39:56,480
where those duties are going.
And so, you know, we certainly

742
00:39:56,480 --> 00:39:59,240
want to be patriotic, but you
know, we're business people and

743
00:39:59,440 --> 00:40:03,320
we have looked and we just
haven't been able to find the

744
00:40:03,320 --> 00:40:07,760
right supplier that that where
it would make sense to to offer.

745
00:40:08,240 --> 00:40:11,240
It's also probably like a
premium product, premium clients

746
00:40:11,240 --> 00:40:13,920
kind of thing, right?
Like your clients expect the

747
00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:16,160
best.
I, I believe so, yes.

748
00:40:16,160 --> 00:40:18,560
And like I said, you know, in
terms of the, the, the

749
00:40:18,560 --> 00:40:21,720
consistency of the, the paper
and the color too, right.

750
00:40:21,720 --> 00:40:25,040
Like we, we've got 28 different
tissue colors just just tissue

751
00:40:25,040 --> 00:40:28,920
alone besides like the PVC and
the nonmetallic and we've got

752
00:40:28,920 --> 00:40:31,040
clean free and technophilic and
different materials.

753
00:40:31,040 --> 00:40:34,360
But just the tissue colors
alone, we have 28 of those and

754
00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:37,040
you know, we want to make sure
that when our clients are

755
00:40:37,040 --> 00:40:39,080
getting the those colors that
they've ordered.

756
00:40:39,080 --> 00:40:41,280
And that's the other thing that
we could do pretty well as we

757
00:40:41,280 --> 00:40:45,840
can mix and match and put
different ratios in a in a bulk

758
00:40:45,840 --> 00:40:48,920
or in a sleeve.
And so you can really create a

759
00:40:48,920 --> 00:40:51,120
customized effect.
And I think that's what our our

760
00:40:51,120 --> 00:40:53,560
clients are expect from us.
And maybe there is a little bit

761
00:40:53,560 --> 00:40:57,000
of premium with that, with that
US sourced and, and the, the

762
00:40:57,000 --> 00:40:59,520
extra labor that goes into
making those, those ratios.

763
00:40:59,520 --> 00:41:02,440
And so, you know, as an example
for the Super Bowl teams,

764
00:41:02,440 --> 00:41:07,200
there's, there's specific ratios
for each color that go into the

765
00:41:07,200 --> 00:41:09,600
Chiefs and the Eagles and any
team.

766
00:41:09,640 --> 00:41:13,200
And so we, we work with through
our clients in the NFL to get

767
00:41:13,200 --> 00:41:16,600
those colors dialed in.
And you know, it's, you know,

768
00:41:16,600 --> 00:41:21,440
maybe 60% blue and 30% red and
10% white, whatever, whatever it

769
00:41:21,440 --> 00:41:23,240
may be.
And that's, that's I think one

770
00:41:23,240 --> 00:41:25,960
of our offerings, our
capabilities is to be able to

771
00:41:25,960 --> 00:41:28,480
have that, you know, customized
confetti look.

772
00:41:28,760 --> 00:41:31,280
So for Super Bowl, did you have
to send both teams?

773
00:41:31,440 --> 00:41:32,720
Both, Both colors?
Both.

774
00:41:33,080 --> 00:41:34,360
Confetti.
We did yes.

775
00:41:34,520 --> 00:41:37,320
So we go out there, we go on the
field and you never know who's

776
00:41:37,320 --> 00:41:40,360
going to win, right.
And, and many years not, not

777
00:41:40,360 --> 00:41:43,240
this past Super Bowl, but prior
year, it was in overtime.

778
00:41:43,240 --> 00:41:46,920
And so you don't know.
So you bring in both colors,

779
00:41:46,920 --> 00:41:50,360
both teams out on your confetti
gun to each each of these

780
00:41:50,360 --> 00:41:54,640
confetti cannons that we called
the big blasters will go out and

781
00:41:54,720 --> 00:41:56,600
position themselves on the
sideline.

782
00:41:56,680 --> 00:42:01,000
In past years, we've had 66
cannons on each sideline.

783
00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:02,440
So there's 12 cannons all
together.

784
00:42:02,880 --> 00:42:05,960
And we'll launch the winning
team, of course, and then the

785
00:42:06,040 --> 00:42:08,200
the losing team will recycle it
and.

786
00:42:08,240 --> 00:42:12,560
So are there are that's reloaded
with each team and then you only

787
00:42:12,560 --> 00:42:14,920
blast the ones that are loaded
with the winning team?

788
00:42:14,920 --> 00:42:18,480
Or do you load?
Each cannon has two boxes on it.

789
00:42:18,480 --> 00:42:21,200
Each cannon, each cannon goes
out there and have two boxes.

790
00:42:21,520 --> 00:42:24,440
And then we will launch the
winning teams colors.

791
00:42:24,440 --> 00:42:28,160
And it's a little tricky because
the two things that we say in

792
00:42:28,160 --> 00:42:30,520
the industry or at the Super
Bowl or some of these big

793
00:42:30,520 --> 00:42:33,480
football games are make sure
that you you shoot the right

794
00:42:33,480 --> 00:42:37,360
color and make sure that you
shoot after the game is

795
00:42:37,360 --> 00:42:40,440
officially over.
You don't want any replays or,

796
00:42:40,440 --> 00:42:43,880
you know, review of a call or
there's 2 seconds left on the

797
00:42:43,880 --> 00:42:45,000
clock.
And, you know, you're kind of

798
00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:47,840
the field waiting for the call
from the NFL saying, hey,

799
00:42:47,840 --> 00:42:49,760
confetti go.
Or the game is really it's

800
00:42:49,760 --> 00:42:52,360
officially, officially over.
And sometimes there's a run off,

801
00:42:52,360 --> 00:42:54,600
right, and the coaches are on
the field shaking hands and the

802
00:42:54,760 --> 00:42:56,920
quarterbacks are shaking hands
and everybody's on the field and

803
00:42:56,920 --> 00:42:59,040
the clock is still winding down
and.

804
00:42:59,600 --> 00:43:00,800
And.
And we're just waiting.

805
00:43:00,800 --> 00:43:03,200
And so, yeah.
Well, you gotta love sports

806
00:43:03,200 --> 00:43:05,800
then, because you sell twice as
much for every game, right?

807
00:43:06,160 --> 00:43:08,360
Because.
You supply it for both teams.

808
00:43:08,360 --> 00:43:09,880
That's hilarious.
Yes, yes.

809
00:43:10,120 --> 00:43:13,040
You got to get into like racing
where you know, it could be 1 of

810
00:43:13,040 --> 00:43:17,520
20 drivers or whatever and you
got to have all the drivers

811
00:43:17,520 --> 00:43:20,880
there, each of their numbers
and, you know, depending on who

812
00:43:20,880 --> 00:43:23,560
wins the race, there you go.
There's a business idea.

813
00:43:23,560 --> 00:43:25,200
I just, I just want a small
piece of it.

814
00:43:25,200 --> 00:43:25,920
I want.
To thank you.

815
00:43:26,320 --> 00:43:28,640
That's good.
Yeah, no, that's, that's really

816
00:43:28,640 --> 00:43:32,280
cool.
So from a like, you know, again,

817
00:43:32,280 --> 00:43:33,720
I'm a dummy.
I don't know anything about

818
00:43:33,720 --> 00:43:36,680
confetti from a technology
standpoint.

819
00:43:37,040 --> 00:43:38,960
You know, like I am an
innovation guy.

820
00:43:38,960 --> 00:43:42,280
I love innovation.
I love, like I talked in the in

821
00:43:42,280 --> 00:43:49,000
the intro to this podcast about
AII talk a lot about AI and, and

822
00:43:49,000 --> 00:43:51,440
in the industry.
The part of the industry I spent

823
00:43:51,440 --> 00:43:54,160
most of my time is lighting, you
know, automated lighting

824
00:43:54,160 --> 00:43:57,520
specifically lot of innovation
constant, you know, moving

825
00:43:57,520 --> 00:43:59,200
forward, moving forward, moving
forward.

826
00:43:59,560 --> 00:44:03,800
So what are some of the ways
like confetti or the delivery of

827
00:44:03,800 --> 00:44:08,440
confetti are moving forward or
are they, are they just stale

828
00:44:08,440 --> 00:44:10,440
old businesses that could get
used or?

829
00:44:11,120 --> 00:44:13,480
No, there's, there's some
innovation and I and I'll give

830
00:44:13,480 --> 00:44:16,400
you a few examples.
We have just come up with three

831
00:44:16,400 --> 00:44:18,720
new products and the consumable
side last year.

832
00:44:18,720 --> 00:44:21,880
And so I'll tell you that the
first one that we introduced was

833
00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:27,200
a product called Glimmer and it
has the IT has the look of a

834
00:44:27,200 --> 00:44:29,080
metallic, but it's a tissue
based.

835
00:44:29,080 --> 00:44:32,280
And so I'll tell you that we
have been seeing a trend in the

836
00:44:32,280 --> 00:44:37,200
industry where venues and arenas
and, and acts and there's just a

837
00:44:37,200 --> 00:44:41,000
general trend away from PVC and
away from metallic because it's

838
00:44:41,000 --> 00:44:42,560
not very environmentally
friendly.

839
00:44:42,560 --> 00:44:46,240
And so we picked up on that
trend and, and we, we'd see some

840
00:44:46,240 --> 00:44:51,440
acts where they would say, hey,
we need to order 70% of the

841
00:44:51,440 --> 00:44:54,760
shows in tissue and 30% of the
shows in metallic.

842
00:44:54,760 --> 00:44:56,720
And we're going to use the
metallic at the venues that

843
00:44:56,720 --> 00:45:00,320
allow PVC and metallic because
it, it, to be fair, it has a

844
00:45:00,320 --> 00:45:02,120
better look, right?
And the lights and it's, it's,

845
00:45:02,200 --> 00:45:06,400
it's funny, it has that problem
and that, that glitter look.

846
00:45:06,600 --> 00:45:10,640
And so we embarked on an effort
with our, our tissue supplier to

847
00:45:10,640 --> 00:45:14,360
develop a product that like I
said has, has, has a little bit

848
00:45:14,360 --> 00:45:17,520
of the, the shimmer and the
glean of a a metallic and yet is

849
00:45:17,520 --> 00:45:20,160
tissue based.
So it's biodegradable and it's

850
00:45:20,160 --> 00:45:22,440
recyclable.
And so we came out with a

851
00:45:22,440 --> 00:45:26,160
product that we called Glimmer.
Right now it's in two colors.

852
00:45:26,160 --> 00:45:30,320
We have a gold and silver and so
it's, it, it, I think it, we're,

853
00:45:30,320 --> 00:45:32,960
we're trying to meet the demands
of the, the industry and maybe

854
00:45:32,960 --> 00:45:35,920
the world, if you will, in terms
of more sustainability and, and

855
00:45:35,920 --> 00:45:38,480
they'll move away from PVC and
metallic and the move to

856
00:45:38,600 --> 00:45:41,200
towards, you know, more
environmentally friendly

857
00:45:41,200 --> 00:45:42,640
products.
So we came out with that last

858
00:45:42,640 --> 00:45:47,200
year and we're hoping that we
can offer more of those colors

859
00:45:47,200 --> 00:45:48,800
instead of just the gold and
silver.

860
00:45:49,440 --> 00:45:52,520
We can offer additional colors
as as we go forward.

861
00:45:53,080 --> 00:45:55,440
And those are available in all
the different custom shapes and

862
00:45:55,440 --> 00:45:57,160
sizes and stuff.
Are those only?

863
00:45:57,320 --> 00:45:59,840
Oh, really?
Yes, so they're available in in

864
00:45:59,840 --> 00:46:02,120
bulk, you know, in the squares
and the rectangles and the

865
00:46:02,120 --> 00:46:03,600
shapes.
And then they're also available

866
00:46:03,600 --> 00:46:06,600
in streamer format too.
And so, you know, the streamers

867
00:46:06,600 --> 00:46:09,040
are nice because it's easy to
clean up and that's sort of the

868
00:46:09,040 --> 00:46:11,360
differentiator.
Streamers relatively easy to

869
00:46:11,360 --> 00:46:15,320
clean up you know adds a festive
look and then the confetti's

870
00:46:15,320 --> 00:46:18,240
certainly a little harder to
clean up but you know bigger you

871
00:46:18,240 --> 00:46:20,440
know a bigger coverage point if.
And are you using the same

872
00:46:20,440 --> 00:46:23,400
devices to deliver these to to
blast them or?

873
00:46:23,400 --> 00:46:26,720
Yes, yes.
So they work in all of our our

874
00:46:26,720 --> 00:46:28,840
equipments and all the equipment
out there to be fair.

875
00:46:28,840 --> 00:46:32,720
And so, so yeah, I think that's,
that's one innovation we came up

876
00:46:32,720 --> 00:46:36,920
with last year.
We also used to only be able to

877
00:46:36,920 --> 00:46:39,800
print on one side.
The, the custom imprinting was

878
00:46:39,800 --> 00:46:44,960
only able to be done on one side
unless we wanted to do a, a, a

879
00:46:44,960 --> 00:46:48,240
flammable product.
And so we came up with a way

880
00:46:48,240 --> 00:46:52,600
this year to be able to, we, we
developed a paper that is able

881
00:46:52,600 --> 00:46:55,120
to be printed on both sides
where it doesn't bleed through.

882
00:46:55,120 --> 00:46:58,040
So you can see it clearly on
both sides and it's flame

883
00:46:58,040 --> 00:47:00,400
retardant.
So in the past we were only able

884
00:47:00,400 --> 00:47:03,920
to print on one side for custom
imprinting for saying money or

885
00:47:03,920 --> 00:47:07,560
something like that.
And now we can do two sides

886
00:47:07,560 --> 00:47:11,960
custom imprinted in flammatory
paper and then we also.

887
00:47:11,960 --> 00:47:14,960
I would guess one of the
challenges there is weight,

888
00:47:15,040 --> 00:47:17,720
right?
Like if it's too thick, the

889
00:47:17,720 --> 00:47:19,960
paper, it's just going to kind
of drop like a rock.

890
00:47:19,960 --> 00:47:22,760
It's not going to flutter as
much and do what you want

891
00:47:22,760 --> 00:47:25,160
confetti to do, right?
Yes, exactly.

892
00:47:25,160 --> 00:47:27,680
And so there are different
weights of the paper.

893
00:47:27,680 --> 00:47:30,400
You know, there's a rate, there
are regular generic tissue is a

894
00:47:30,440 --> 00:47:33,040
10 LB paper.
The stuff that we print on

895
00:47:33,040 --> 00:47:38,120
normally is a 15 LB paper and
then there's a 27 LB that is for

896
00:47:38,120 --> 00:47:40,160
printing on both sides.
So you're, you're absolutely

897
00:47:40,160 --> 00:47:42,360
right.
The weight of the papers is is

898
00:47:42,640 --> 00:47:44,360
dictates sort of how you how you
can use it.

899
00:47:44,480 --> 00:47:47,040
Of course, Yeah, yeah.
So what other?

900
00:47:47,120 --> 00:47:48,680
What other?
Innovations and then we, we also

901
00:47:48,680 --> 00:47:52,000
came out with I mentioned the
Technoflac that embossed

902
00:47:52,000 --> 00:47:54,360
material we have which which
looks really great.

903
00:47:54,360 --> 00:47:58,840
It's used in a bunch of Broadway
shows and many applications.

904
00:47:58,840 --> 00:48:01,960
And so we that used to be only
available in bulk format.

905
00:48:01,960 --> 00:48:05,520
And so now we also have that to
be able to be utilized in

906
00:48:05,520 --> 00:48:08,600
streamer format.
So we have Technoflix streamers

907
00:48:08,600 --> 00:48:10,840
now.
And so we have, you know, been

908
00:48:10,840 --> 00:48:14,000
very focused as you mentioned.
And you know what's what's new

909
00:48:14,000 --> 00:48:16,000
in the confetti world we've been
focused on.

910
00:48:16,280 --> 00:48:18,160
Last year I'd say it was our
consumables.

911
00:48:18,440 --> 00:48:21,320
This year we're focusing on
equipment and you talked about,

912
00:48:21,360 --> 00:48:23,600
you know, the technology in the
lighting industry and things

913
00:48:23,600 --> 00:48:25,560
moving forward.
And I think, you know, we're

914
00:48:25,560 --> 00:48:28,320
looking at how, how can we
approve our launchers the the

915
00:48:28,520 --> 00:48:31,200
dispersal of the equipment.
And so we're looking at, you

916
00:48:31,200 --> 00:48:35,680
know, TMX integration and on
board compressors and things

917
00:48:35,680 --> 00:48:40,360
like that and just looking at at
equipment at all of our existing

918
00:48:40,360 --> 00:48:43,080
equipment, figuring out, you
know, where can we improve and

919
00:48:43,080 --> 00:48:45,000
iterate on the I.
Guess there's some safety

920
00:48:45,000 --> 00:48:48,320
concerns there too, though, like
if you start to automate the the

921
00:48:48,320 --> 00:48:51,760
blasting of these things and
somebody's walking by something

922
00:48:51,760 --> 00:48:54,960
and it misfires or whatever,
like there's, there's probably,

923
00:48:55,160 --> 00:48:57,520
I'm guessing anyways, is that an
issue or a concern?

924
00:48:57,520 --> 00:48:59,480
Always, Yeah.
Absolutely, absolutely.

925
00:48:59,480 --> 00:49:02,240
And, and with our our products,
the other thing we've done

926
00:49:02,240 --> 00:49:06,000
recently is we've obtained CE
approval.

927
00:49:06,000 --> 00:49:09,080
It's a European standard.
And with that, we've placed

928
00:49:09,080 --> 00:49:11,800
warning labels, you know, just
don't, don't step in front of

929
00:49:11,800 --> 00:49:13,560
this.
Read the manual, be careful

930
00:49:13,560 --> 00:49:15,400
here.
And yeah, until you'll see

931
00:49:15,480 --> 00:49:18,320
little warning stickers in our
equipment now that that we

932
00:49:18,320 --> 00:49:19,480
didn't have.
But yeah, you're absolutely

933
00:49:19,520 --> 00:49:21,960
right.
Safety's a big, a big part of

934
00:49:21,960 --> 00:49:23,000
our what we do.
What about?

935
00:49:23,000 --> 00:49:26,040
Packaging.
So like if if I'm if I'm on a

936
00:49:26,040 --> 00:49:29,040
Coldplay tour for example, and I
know they are one of your big

937
00:49:29,040 --> 00:49:33,240
customers and use a lot of
confetti, but am I just getting

938
00:49:33,240 --> 00:49:37,080
these barrels full of confetti
or am I getting specially sized

939
00:49:37,080 --> 00:49:40,480
packages depending on how
they're being dispersed or

940
00:49:40,480 --> 00:49:43,280
delivered?
Well, yeah, Pop plays a great

941
00:49:43,280 --> 00:49:47,160
client of ours through strictly
effects and and so, you know,

942
00:49:47,160 --> 00:49:51,080
Chris Martin, lead singer,
Coldplay is very environmentally

943
00:49:51,080 --> 00:49:53,440
conscious and you go to his
concerts and he's got people

944
00:49:53,440 --> 00:49:57,440
riding stationary bicycles to
generate power and there's

945
00:49:57,440 --> 00:50:01,200
carbon offsets and they all the
drinks are, are served in

946
00:50:01,200 --> 00:50:04,080
recycling, you know, container
recyclable containers.

947
00:50:04,080 --> 00:50:05,840
And and so it's the same with
the confetti.

948
00:50:05,840 --> 00:50:08,600
It's all tissue based.
And, you know, we're very

949
00:50:08,600 --> 00:50:11,000
particular in the way we we
baggage the confetti so that

950
00:50:11,000 --> 00:50:14,360
it's, it's, you know, very
minimal impact on the

951
00:50:14,360 --> 00:50:16,440
environment.
But yeah, there I'd say they're

952
00:50:16,440 --> 00:50:19,800
at the forefront of, you know,
the sustainability environment.

953
00:50:19,800 --> 00:50:22,960
Like if I'm, if I'm doing, if
I'm doing just, you know, some

954
00:50:22,960 --> 00:50:26,520
sort of a show, whether it's a
Disney or a wedding or whatever

955
00:50:26,520 --> 00:50:28,840
it is.
But do you package specifically

956
00:50:28,840 --> 00:50:31,720
for the devices that they're
firing from or?

957
00:50:31,720 --> 00:50:34,400
Is it just?
Bulk bags or something of

958
00:50:34,400 --> 00:50:35,320
confetti?
No, we.

959
00:50:35,320 --> 00:50:37,040
We.
Package we find out how, how

960
00:50:37,040 --> 00:50:39,000
they're going to launch.
You know, that's a lot of times

961
00:50:39,000 --> 00:50:41,280
we'll say to our client, how are
we, how are we launching this?

962
00:50:41,280 --> 00:50:43,920
You know, which mechanisms, how
big is the barrel?

963
00:50:43,920 --> 00:50:46,520
And then we'll be able to make a
recommendation and then, you

964
00:50:46,520 --> 00:50:49,480
know, so for say our big shots,
it's 2 inch barrel.

965
00:50:49,480 --> 00:50:53,560
We'll, we'll package the items
in sleeves of confetti.

966
00:50:53,560 --> 00:50:56,320
And so it helps the operator,
they open the bag, they pour the

967
00:50:56,320 --> 00:50:59,480
sleeves of confetti, whether
it's just rectangles or

968
00:50:59,480 --> 00:51:04,520
streamers or a custom shape into
the barrel, put a little cap on

969
00:51:04,520 --> 00:51:08,000
it and they can fire.
So it's the packaging is

970
00:51:08,000 --> 00:51:09,840
tailored to how it's gonna be
used and.

971
00:51:09,840 --> 00:51:11,320
Yeah.
It's like pre measured

972
00:51:11,520 --> 00:51:14,200
basically.
Yeah, Yes, that's interesting.

973
00:51:14,960 --> 00:51:17,200
Cool.
Yeah, I mean, I, I had no idea.

974
00:51:17,200 --> 00:51:18,720
I had no idea how some of this
stuff.

975
00:51:18,720 --> 00:51:21,760
So what about new markets?
Like are you looking, so you're

976
00:51:21,760 --> 00:51:24,480
looking at innovation, creating
like I've always looked at

977
00:51:24,480 --> 00:51:27,560
marketing and sales as there's
two approaches, you know,

978
00:51:27,560 --> 00:51:30,520
creating more products for my
customers or more customers for

979
00:51:30,520 --> 00:51:34,240
my products.
And so as like the the boss, you

980
00:51:34,240 --> 00:51:36,760
know, you're probably doing a
little of both, I'm guessing.

981
00:51:37,680 --> 00:51:39,440
Yes, indeed.
And you know, I mentioned the

982
00:51:39,440 --> 00:51:41,600
one, the one thing we're going
to focus on this year's that

983
00:51:41,600 --> 00:51:44,600
collectible confetti and see how
we can leverage that.

984
00:51:45,080 --> 00:51:49,240
And then I, I think also that
we're, you know, we, we've been

985
00:51:49,240 --> 00:51:51,280
in a good position.
We, we work with some of the

986
00:51:51,280 --> 00:51:54,280
major theme parks here at
Universal Studios and Disney and

987
00:51:54,760 --> 00:51:59,640
a lot of the sports teams and,
and professional leagues and,

988
00:51:59,640 --> 00:52:03,120
and a lot of the top, you know,
pirate tech and pirate technico.

989
00:52:03,120 --> 00:52:05,520
It's strictly an image.
A lot of the big integrators we

990
00:52:05,520 --> 00:52:07,720
work with all those pirate
spectaculars.

991
00:52:08,080 --> 00:52:11,240
And so we have great
relationships with all those,

992
00:52:11,240 --> 00:52:14,200
those clients and are, are
meeting their needs.

993
00:52:14,200 --> 00:52:17,600
And so we, we feel like maybe
there's other segments, other

994
00:52:17,600 --> 00:52:20,600
verticals that we could, you
know, tackle and, and where we

995
00:52:20,600 --> 00:52:23,600
have a little bit of a presence,
but maybe not as much as there

996
00:52:23,600 --> 00:52:25,600
could be.
And so, you know, school schools

997
00:52:25,600 --> 00:52:27,800
and universities, right.
And, and I think there's a lot

998
00:52:27,800 --> 00:52:31,400
of confetti opportunities, not
just with, say, the traditional

999
00:52:31,400 --> 00:52:34,520
commencement, but maybe, you
know, at pep rallies and alumni

1000
00:52:34,520 --> 00:52:37,960
awards and, you know, athletic
events and things like that.

1001
00:52:37,960 --> 00:52:41,000
And so that's an area we're
going to be exploring and seeing

1002
00:52:41,000 --> 00:52:45,240
if that might add some had some
revenue and exposure for us.

1003
00:52:45,520 --> 00:52:46,560
Yeah.
Yeah.

1004
00:52:46,560 --> 00:52:51,240
That's interesting.
And so as I understand it, it is

1005
00:52:52,480 --> 00:52:56,080
I, I believe the former owners
have have sold the company.

1006
00:52:56,080 --> 00:52:59,200
There's new owners in there now
and, and from what I understand,

1007
00:52:59,200 --> 00:53:00,720
they're pretty great people and
stuff.

1008
00:53:01,320 --> 00:53:05,480
Has that changed much for you
like you know, business as usual

1009
00:53:05,480 --> 00:53:10,400
type of thing or or I'd.
Say it's a little, a little bit

1010
00:53:10,400 --> 00:53:12,840
of a change, I'd say from an
administrative standpoint, you

1011
00:53:12,840 --> 00:53:16,720
know, now we have new owners
and, and you know, they're,

1012
00:53:16,760 --> 00:53:20,120
they're great guys to, to work
with, but you know, it's a

1013
00:53:20,120 --> 00:53:23,520
little bit more administrative
right now.

1014
00:53:23,520 --> 00:53:26,880
We have budgets and we have
board meetings and there's

1015
00:53:26,880 --> 00:53:30,560
strategy decks and there's, you
know, it's, it's more

1016
00:53:30,560 --> 00:53:33,440
disciplined, I'll say, to kind
of take me back to what I did in

1017
00:53:33,440 --> 00:53:37,200
the in, in my past life.
But so I'm used to it and I'm

1018
00:53:37,200 --> 00:53:40,000
comfortable with it, but just a
little bit different approach,

1019
00:53:40,000 --> 00:53:43,560
if you will.
So, so yeah, that's, that's a

1020
00:53:43,560 --> 00:53:46,560
little bit different for us in,
in this, in this transition, but

1021
00:53:47,040 --> 00:53:48,920
but it's great.
And I, and I think with, with

1022
00:53:48,920 --> 00:53:51,120
having some new owners and new
investors, it gives us some

1023
00:53:51,120 --> 00:53:54,920
access to, to capital to be able
to invest in, in some of these

1024
00:53:54,920 --> 00:53:57,440
R&D projects and to be able to
make some bets at and on

1025
00:53:57,440 --> 00:53:59,960
different things and, and see
how they, how they go.

1026
00:53:59,960 --> 00:54:02,920
So it's, I think it's an
exciting time in, in the

1027
00:54:02,920 --> 00:54:04,920
confetti landscape, if you will.
Yeah.

1028
00:54:04,920 --> 00:54:07,440
I mean, I think every company
grows to a certain level and

1029
00:54:07,440 --> 00:54:10,520
then you just need a different
set of like what got you from

1030
00:54:10,520 --> 00:54:13,640
here to here isn't going to get
you from here to here usually,

1031
00:54:13,640 --> 00:54:15,040
right.
And and you either need to

1032
00:54:15,040 --> 00:54:19,440
change structure, ownership,
something about the business to

1033
00:54:19,440 --> 00:54:24,200
get to that next level.
And, and so, yeah, I mean,

1034
00:54:24,280 --> 00:54:25,560
sounds like you're in a good
place.

1035
00:54:25,600 --> 00:54:29,800
Indeed, indeed, yes, I have one,
one story if I could share with

1036
00:54:29,800 --> 00:54:34,080
you, I think please, which is as
it feels like confetti is kind

1037
00:54:34,080 --> 00:54:35,320
of having a little bit of a
moment.

1038
00:54:35,320 --> 00:54:37,880
And I don't know if you've
you've seen like there's there's

1039
00:54:37,880 --> 00:54:40,720
kind of a famous thing where
Jalen Hurts had a picture on his

1040
00:54:40,720 --> 00:54:44,200
on his phone, a screensaver.
He had a picture of Jalen Hurts

1041
00:54:44,200 --> 00:54:45,920
as the quarterback for the
Philadelphia Eagles.

1042
00:54:46,280 --> 00:54:49,040
And they lost the Super Bowl a
couple years ago and the

1043
00:54:49,040 --> 00:54:50,760
confetti was raining down on
him.

1044
00:54:50,760 --> 00:54:53,120
But sadly it was the Kansas City
Chiefs confetti.

1045
00:54:53,120 --> 00:54:58,240
And so he saved that picture on
his on his on his lock screen on

1046
00:54:58,240 --> 00:55:01,440
his phone for the last couple
years as an incentive, as a

1047
00:55:01,440 --> 00:55:04,440
motive invader where he was
walking off the field under a

1048
00:55:04,440 --> 00:55:07,120
sea of of Kansas City Chiefs
confetti.

1049
00:55:07,640 --> 00:55:12,640
And so this year when the Jalen
Hurts and the Eagles won the won

1050
00:55:12,640 --> 00:55:15,480
the Super Bowl, there was
confetti falling on it, but it

1051
00:55:15,480 --> 00:55:19,240
was Eagles confetti this time.
And the, the I forget it was

1052
00:55:19,240 --> 00:55:22,480
Fox, whatever the reporter,
ESPN, Fox or whoever came up to

1053
00:55:22,480 --> 00:55:24,720
him, the the Eagles confetti was
falling on him.

1054
00:55:24,720 --> 00:55:27,000
And they said, you know, how
does, how does this feel, Jalen,

1055
00:55:27,000 --> 00:55:30,200
to have the the Eagles confetti,
you know, coming down on you

1056
00:55:30,200 --> 00:55:33,120
now?
And so that was kind of cool.

1057
00:55:33,120 --> 00:55:35,000
Did he change his his
screensaver?

1058
00:55:35,680 --> 00:55:36,640
Hopefully that's a good
question.

1059
00:55:36,640 --> 00:55:38,120
I don't know, maybe, maybe he
did.

1060
00:55:38,200 --> 00:55:41,400
The right color of confetti.
Now, at least I you know,

1061
00:55:41,400 --> 00:55:44,400
another interesting story that
you might want to expand on a

1062
00:55:44,400 --> 00:55:46,240
little bit.
I saw on your, I think it was on

1063
00:55:46,240 --> 00:55:50,520
your Instagram page or something
that one of your employees

1064
00:55:50,520 --> 00:55:53,240
became like Instagram famous
from.

1065
00:55:53,320 --> 00:55:55,720
I think it was either the Super
Bowl or was it the national

1066
00:55:55,720 --> 00:55:57,200
championship game, I can't
remember.

1067
00:55:57,800 --> 00:56:00,200
It was the Super Bowl.
Yes, that's a that's a great

1068
00:56:00,200 --> 00:56:02,560
story.
So we had, you know, we have

1069
00:56:02,560 --> 00:56:05,440
these technicians that, you
know, load the confetti and

1070
00:56:05,440 --> 00:56:08,080
launch at the Super Bowl.
And so somebody took a video of

1071
00:56:08,080 --> 00:56:10,240
one of our technicians.
There's a young guy, he's in

1072
00:56:10,240 --> 00:56:13,520
college, he goes to school up in
Oregon, he's junior, senior.

1073
00:56:13,880 --> 00:56:18,680
And he was loading the confetti
into our hopper and somebody

1074
00:56:18,680 --> 00:56:22,840
caught this on camera and and
called him the confetti guy.

1075
00:56:22,840 --> 00:56:26,920
And it it's an ESPN and
sportsman picked it up and it

1076
00:56:26,920 --> 00:56:30,040
went, you know, that typical
phrase it it went viral where I

1077
00:56:30,040 --> 00:56:32,960
think there were 80 million
views of this, this clip.

1078
00:56:33,440 --> 00:56:36,040
Wow, Confetti got and and then
hopefully he was.

1079
00:56:36,040 --> 00:56:38,880
In company swag or something I
hope.

1080
00:56:39,240 --> 00:56:42,560
Yeah, yeah.
So he had it had the artistry of

1081
00:56:42,560 --> 00:56:45,240
Motion box, you know, the the
box with our logo on the side

1082
00:56:45,240 --> 00:56:47,960
there.
And so he had I think there were

1083
00:56:47,960 --> 00:56:51,280
14,000 comments where people
were like, oh, I always thought

1084
00:56:51,280 --> 00:56:52,760
the confetti dropped from the
sky.

1085
00:56:52,760 --> 00:56:55,520
I didn't know it was, you know,
released up and then came down

1086
00:56:55,520 --> 00:56:58,640
and, you know, it was, it was
really amazing the, the, the

1087
00:56:58,640 --> 00:57:01,880
publicity that this garnered.
And, and one of the, the really

1088
00:57:01,880 --> 00:57:05,200
interesting things that came out
of this is that there was a

1089
00:57:05,200 --> 00:57:08,920
gentleman who saw this clip who
is the head of a, a major

1090
00:57:08,920 --> 00:57:12,880
entertainment organization.
And he said to his employees, I

1091
00:57:12,880 --> 00:57:15,920
want to test that, that big
blaster.

1092
00:57:15,920 --> 00:57:18,760
I want to test that piece of
equipment for an upcoming

1093
00:57:18,760 --> 00:57:19,880
installation.
They have.

1094
00:57:19,880 --> 00:57:24,000
And so the team from this
organization got in touch with

1095
00:57:24,000 --> 00:57:28,320
us and we're, you know, in, in
testing mode, I'll say right now

1096
00:57:28,520 --> 00:57:31,600
that's something to provide, you
know, equipment and, and

1097
00:57:31,600 --> 00:57:37,600
possibly consumables for this,
this major, major theatrical

1098
00:57:37,600 --> 00:57:40,640
sports sports product.
Well, and you guys that

1099
00:57:40,640 --> 00:57:42,200
congratulations, that's
incredible.

1100
00:57:42,200 --> 00:57:45,360
I mean, when you get a direct
lead like that, you know, for

1101
00:57:45,360 --> 00:57:49,080
nothing basically like it, it
was something that happened very

1102
00:57:49,080 --> 00:57:53,160
organically and very for free
and you get a a direct lead out

1103
00:57:53,160 --> 00:57:54,840
of it.
That's pretty, pretty awesome.

1104
00:57:55,120 --> 00:58:00,120
But you guys kind of hit the
what's what's not a trifecta,

1105
00:58:00,120 --> 00:58:03,360
but you what's 2?
Because you got the national

1106
00:58:03,360 --> 00:58:05,800
championship game and the Super
Bowl, right?

1107
00:58:06,200 --> 00:58:11,080
Yes, yes, which is pretty great.
We do the, it's it and those are

1108
00:58:11,080 --> 00:58:14,040
the only two events where we
really sent the whole team.

1109
00:58:14,040 --> 00:58:16,360
You know, we, we've got sort of
a stable, if you will,

1110
00:58:16,360 --> 00:58:19,440
technicians that are, you know,
can do some work for us as, as

1111
00:58:19,440 --> 00:58:20,960
contractors, if you will, on
weekends.

1112
00:58:20,960 --> 00:58:23,760
And they know how to use our
equipment and they have a lot of

1113
00:58:24,040 --> 00:58:27,280
knowledge about, you know,
arenas and stages and, and

1114
00:58:27,400 --> 00:58:30,160
stadiums.
And so we have this group, this

1115
00:58:30,160 --> 00:58:34,680
group of, of guys and we, we go
out to the College Football

1116
00:58:34,680 --> 00:58:37,720
playoffs and we do the Super
Bowl every year.

1117
00:58:38,320 --> 00:58:40,840
Many times these these
technicians overlap.

1118
00:58:41,200 --> 00:58:43,200
And so, yeah, it's very
exciting.

1119
00:58:43,200 --> 00:58:46,120
And so those are really the only
two events where we will send a

1120
00:58:46,120 --> 00:58:47,960
team of our, you know,
technicians.

1121
00:58:47,960 --> 00:58:51,760
And, and we work with Michael
fewer on the college football

1122
00:58:51,760 --> 00:58:55,200
and fewer and Live Nation on the
on the Super Bowl.

1123
00:58:55,560 --> 00:59:00,360
And I think we've been doing the
Super Bowl for close to 30

1124
00:59:00,360 --> 00:59:02,280
years, right.
When the company was founded,

1125
00:59:02,600 --> 00:59:08,280
they I guess what what the the
company legacy or the history is

1126
00:59:08,280 --> 00:59:12,720
that in the the first Super Bowl
where we did confetti was 1997.

1127
00:59:12,720 --> 00:59:15,920
It was in New Orleans.
It was between Green Bay Packers

1128
00:59:15,920 --> 00:59:18,240
and the new.
England Patriots, You were

1129
00:59:18,240 --> 00:59:19,720
there?
Yeah, I was at the game I've

1130
00:59:19,720 --> 00:59:21,960
been in and the Packers the two
games in.

1131
00:59:21,960 --> 00:59:24,480
OK, so the Packers.
Won that game.

1132
00:59:25,200 --> 00:59:29,800
And what we did is we engaged
with 200 local high school

1133
00:59:29,800 --> 00:59:34,240
football players and we had a
section of the stadium and we,

1134
00:59:34,680 --> 00:59:40,440
we duct taped two of our
reusable handheld confetti

1135
00:59:40,440 --> 00:59:43,080
cannons together and we shot
confetti.

1136
00:59:43,080 --> 00:59:47,240
And so that was, you know, so
it, it's gone from that in 1997

1137
00:59:47,240 --> 00:59:51,760
to having, you know, 12 big
blasters and a few big blasters

1138
00:59:51,760 --> 00:59:53,880
for the trophy celebration on
the sideline.

1139
00:59:53,880 --> 00:59:56,160
So it's, it's morphed into that.
So we've been involved in every

1140
00:59:56,160 --> 00:59:58,360
Super Bowl city since.
That's wild.

1141
00:59:58,800 --> 01:00:01,800
And you know, it's it's funny
because if I and this, it sounds

1142
01:00:01,800 --> 01:00:06,640
like I'm blowing smoke, But if I
think of sort of two confetti

1143
01:00:06,640 --> 01:00:09,600
moments in my head, like if it
was, if someone was to quiz me

1144
01:00:09,600 --> 01:00:13,440
and say, give me two moments
where confetti comes in that you

1145
01:00:13,440 --> 01:00:15,920
can remember.
For me, it would be the Super

1146
01:00:15,920 --> 01:00:19,240
Bowl and Coldplay.
Those are like, to me, the two

1147
01:00:19,400 --> 01:00:22,520
like instant in my head.
I'm thinking Coldplay and I'm

1148
01:00:22,520 --> 01:00:24,280
thinking.
The Super Bowl?

1149
01:00:24,480 --> 01:00:26,880
Because that's just like
confetti on steroids.

1150
01:00:26,880 --> 01:00:29,520
Both of those, right?
Like a ton of confetti.

1151
01:00:29,520 --> 01:00:30,280
Right.
It did.

1152
01:00:30,280 --> 01:00:32,480
It did yeah.
You know, for Coldplay, they use

1153
01:00:32,480 --> 01:00:35,320
basically a pallet of confetti
every night for for one of their

1154
01:00:35,320 --> 01:00:37,640
shows.
And they have special shapes.

1155
01:00:37,640 --> 01:00:40,720
You know, there's a sky full of
stars, there's a song Sky full

1156
01:00:40,720 --> 01:00:42,360
of stars.
And during that song, of course,

1157
01:00:42,360 --> 01:00:45,000
we have star shaped confetti
that shoots out.

1158
01:00:45,000 --> 01:00:47,400
We've got butterfly shaped
confetti and there's some day

1159
01:00:47,400 --> 01:00:49,800
glow and some regular and
there's different colors and

1160
01:00:49,800 --> 01:00:51,960
streamers and that's so cool,
all sorts of stuff.

1161
01:00:51,960 --> 01:00:53,960
So it's it's kind of neat to go
to a Coldplay, the show.

1162
01:00:54,000 --> 01:00:57,920
There's, I don't know, I think 9
or 10 songs that incorporate

1163
01:00:57,920 --> 01:01:00,040
confetti that's wild into the
song.

1164
01:01:00,040 --> 01:01:03,320
So it's a lot of fun.
I know you're a bit of a not a

1165
01:01:03,320 --> 01:01:07,920
bit of a lot of a fitness guy.
So what's, where did that come

1166
01:01:07,920 --> 01:01:11,920
from and and where's it going?
Yeah, yeah, I don't.

1167
01:01:12,080 --> 01:01:16,280
You know, I kind of grew up as
an active kid and like I said, I

1168
01:01:16,280 --> 01:01:20,000
played lacrosse in college and
then after that, you know, it's

1169
01:01:20,000 --> 01:01:22,200
not too much lacrosse playing
you can do after college I got

1170
01:01:22,200 --> 01:01:27,200
into some endurance sports and
ended up, you know, doing some

1171
01:01:27,200 --> 01:01:29,520
triathlon stuff.
I, I got really into triathlon

1172
01:01:29,520 --> 01:01:34,000
for a while and I've done, I
think I've done 6 Ironman so far

1173
01:01:34,000 --> 01:01:36,800
And, and my, I wouldn't even say
a dream, but just this.

1174
01:01:37,000 --> 01:01:40,320
And it's sort of, you know,
happened organically where at

1175
01:01:40,320 --> 01:01:42,640
one point I said to myself, I've
done a number of Triathle

1176
01:01:42,800 --> 01:01:46,760
triathlon disease, Ironman
competitions and I had done on

1177
01:01:46,760 --> 01:01:50,800
four different continents.
And so then my plan was to do, I

1178
01:01:50,800 --> 01:01:54,200
did one in every continent so
far except for Africa.

1179
01:01:54,200 --> 01:01:58,960
And right when COVID hit, I was
signed up in March of 2020 to do

1180
01:01:58,960 --> 01:02:03,480
an Iron Man in South Africa.
And COVID hit and they they

1181
01:02:03,480 --> 01:02:05,760
postponed it.
And so at the time, nobody

1182
01:02:05,760 --> 01:02:07,600
really know how long it was
going to be and they just

1183
01:02:07,600 --> 01:02:09,880
postponed it for six months.
So I kept training for this this

1184
01:02:09,880 --> 01:02:12,480
race, and then they postponed it
again and again.

1185
01:02:12,480 --> 01:02:14,400
And they finally, I said, I'm
not racing, I'm just going to

1186
01:02:14,400 --> 01:02:16,560
race domestically.
And so I ended up doing a race

1187
01:02:16,560 --> 01:02:22,080
in in Florida.
And so so, you know, I still

1188
01:02:22,080 --> 01:02:25,160
haven't ticked that box of an
Iron Man on every continent.

1189
01:02:25,280 --> 01:02:27,880
And they don't have one on
Antarctica as far as I know, or

1190
01:02:27,920 --> 01:02:30,800
I'd have to make my own iron.
But that, that seems kind of

1191
01:02:30,800 --> 01:02:34,120
daunting.
But yeah, so I've done a number.

1192
01:02:34,800 --> 01:02:36,400
Yeah.
So I've done a number of these

1193
01:02:36,520 --> 01:02:40,240
these Iron Man things and I
don't know, I like to just I, I

1194
01:02:40,240 --> 01:02:43,080
love fitness and I'm trying to
start up a artistry of motion

1195
01:02:43,080 --> 01:02:45,680
cycling club.
I just got some new cycling kit

1196
01:02:45,680 --> 01:02:49,280
and yeah, so it's, it's one of
my personal passions.

1197
01:02:49,280 --> 01:02:53,760
It's just fitness and cycling,
swimming, biking, running,

1198
01:02:53,920 --> 01:02:56,600
searching golf.
There are certainly worse habits

1199
01:02:56,600 --> 01:02:59,520
you could be into.
So that's, that's amazing.

1200
01:02:59,640 --> 01:03:02,880
Have you, have you ever followed
or or read or listened to David

1201
01:03:02,880 --> 01:03:06,160
Goggins at all?
I have, I have listened to, I've

1202
01:03:06,160 --> 01:03:09,040
read his book.
The first one, yeah, yeah.

1203
01:03:09,120 --> 01:03:11,520
Can't Hurt Me book.
I read that book and then I've

1204
01:03:11,520 --> 01:03:14,240
listened to him on a podcast
that I tune into once in a

1205
01:03:14,240 --> 01:03:15,280
while.
He's been on a guest on that

1206
01:03:15,280 --> 01:03:17,640
podcast.
So yeah, he's pretty inspiring.

1207
01:03:17,640 --> 01:03:20,360
You know that that guy's.
The stuff that he does where he

1208
01:03:20,360 --> 01:03:24,560
does these like 100 mile runs
and for like after 20 miles his

1209
01:03:24,560 --> 01:03:28,760
his ankles broke or something
like just insane stories and he

1210
01:03:28,760 --> 01:03:31,640
just keeps going like he he
doesn't feel pain.

1211
01:03:32,240 --> 01:03:34,320
Yeah, he's a unique individual.
Yes, indeed.

1212
01:03:34,320 --> 01:03:38,000
He is crazy.
Well, this has been amazing.

1213
01:03:38,000 --> 01:03:40,840
I appreciate you doing it.
I've learned so much and

1214
01:03:40,840 --> 01:03:42,880
hopefully the people listening
have learned a little bit.

1215
01:03:42,880 --> 01:03:49,480
And I guess best way to find you
is is at Artistry in Motion.

1216
01:03:49,720 --> 01:03:51,560
Do you do LinkedIn or anything
as well?

1217
01:03:51,840 --> 01:03:53,720
I have a LinkedIn.
Joseph Wojick.

1218
01:03:54,000 --> 01:03:55,360
Yeah.
My email's Joe at

1219
01:03:55,360 --> 01:03:57,120
artistryinmotion.com.
And cool.

1220
01:03:57,120 --> 01:03:59,560
Yeah, we're, we're here.
And if anybody needs some

1221
01:03:59,560 --> 01:04:01,520
confetti, we're, we're the
people to talk to.

1222
01:04:01,560 --> 01:04:03,720
I'd love to engage and see how
we can help.

1223
01:04:04,080 --> 01:04:06,160
That's awesome.
Thanks so much, Joe.