FUTURETECH Featuring GearShare - GearShare's Smarter Cross-Rentals and Affiliate Opportunities

0:19 All right, Lacey, this one's got me genuinely excited. We're talking about gear share, and honestly, it's wild how far the whole rental process has come. So let's go straight in this gear spotting AI. It's not just another search bar, is it? No not at all, which I'll admit was like super confusing to me at first. I mean every platform claims they have AI search, but gear spotting kind of just gets what you want. You can type in. I don't know, I need a massive line array for say 10,000 people at a festival and it just fills in the blanks for you even if you don't have every spec figured out. Exactly, back in the day, OK dating myself here but a lot of us would just call shop after shop.

1:01 Hey, got any MA 2 lighting consoles this weekend? Then wait, try another vendor and spend a literal afternoon repeating that until something connected. It was a bit of a nightmare, especially if you were after a piece of kit that everyone wanted. Now with gear spotting, you Chuck in a vague request and it sort of reads between the lines, matches your intent to the actual kit, even if your terminology's fuzzy or you forget a crucial spec. Makes you wonder what we were even doing all that time, right? Seriously, the way it feels, it's almost like there's someone reading your mind on the other side, sifting through everything out there and just cutting the whole back and forth out. Plus the more you use it the smarter it gets, which is kind of freaky but also like yes please. Yeah, and then you've got Gear Sync. I love this bit.

1:49 It basically handles your listings for you, does all the organization, and keeps your inventory spotless all in the background. You sync your file or inventory list and done. Everything's mapped to their master database. Nothing falls through the cracks. It's important because the harder this process is, the better the chance your team will fail to update. It's so hands off, which I wish existed when I was running around festivals checking if we actually had what the company wanted or if I typed the model number wrong. Having it all fed in, cleaned up and like searchable. My past self is jealous. It's genuinely A lifesaver. I'm still wrapping my head around how much this could have cut down on pointless busy work.

2:32 You sing, can forget, it's all current. Nothing's outdated, nothing's lost in translation. It's all backstage as they put it, which is spot on. Anyway, all This is why I tell the young techs they've got it easy these days, but in the best way. OK, so let's talk about dollars because this platform isn't just about saving headaches, it's literally about making rental companies more money. And the more these rigs grow, the bigger the problem. Like these, Smarter Cross rentals are changing the game for so many rental houses and production companies. They really are, and I think more than ever people are realizing all that idle gear in the warehouse. It's basically just money sitting on a shelf with gearshare, hooking vendors up instantly with people who need that exact bit of gear.

3:15 You're seeing stuff like PA companies in North America looking at an opportunity to double their utilization rates during what used to be off months. That couldn't happen before, or not this quickly for sure. And it isn't just one country, right? I read a bit where vendors up in Canada were suddenly getting new clients just from the matching stuff Gearshare does. It takes all that who do you know nonsense out of the equation and makes it so much easier to break in with someone new or even just move the gear you already have. That's it. You don't need some huge network or a fancy Rolodex anymore. The platform just finds the match. All those calls, emails, WhatsApp chains, you can skip them.

3:56 And then you're actually squeezing more revenue out of the same bit of equipment year round. I mean, you know this Laci, you used to juggle festival logistics. Oh my gosh yes. Before trying to coordinate who had what, especially when things got crazy close to Showtime chaos. I remember spending late nights waiting for callbacks and then racing around just to grab stuff someone's cousin said they might have in a garage. Wish I had something like Gearshare honestly. Now you punch it in, get a match, and you're done. I almost don't trust it because it feels too easy, but I also wish we'd had this 10 years ago. And Laci, we haven't even touched on The Dirty word for every rental company of any size, CapEx, you know the oxygen your inventory needs to be able to service your customers growing demands. It's become almost impossible to have enough. Even the largest companies struggle. Yeah, fortunately I've never been on the finance side, but I have definitely heard no a few times. When someone wanted a specific brand, if I couldn't convince them to use what we had, they went somewhere else. Gearshare basically let's companies share inventory like Airbnb does with houses.

5:06 I am probably oversimplifying this though, right? Ha, don't worry, I get it. But seriously, platforms like this are really changing bottom lines, not just for the huge firms, but for the two guys and a dream operators too. That's sort of the piece a lot of people miss. Technology like this doesn't just make efficient, it actually unlocks revenue and connects you to gigs you'd never have found anyway. Let's get into the nuts and bolts of this affiliate program being offered. This could be a big earner if you're active in the industry. Laci, have you seen how simple they've made this? I did. It's like you sign up at their website, you get your own discount code and then just share it with your network. If someone saves using your code, bam, you get rewarded either cash or credits depending on the plan. Yeah, and the reward system's straightforward, which I appreciate.

5:56 So for each plan, if you bring in a new subscriber, you get a one time cash bounty, 50 bucks for basic, 150 for standard, 300 for premium. And if you're already a gear share customer, larger rewards come as subscriber credits towards your own renewal, which is handy but quick heads up it's only on prepaid annual Subs so no big cash for month to month is sadly. And remember, you've got to use your unique code for them to track it. Plus any public posts or promotions need the gear share stamp of approval first. Basically, don't blast it everywhere without checking right? And they're only counting qualified referrals, not randoms or anything shady. So bring folks who are genuinely in the business. But I love that the program is open to reps, vendors, engineers, even current gear share customers. Pretty much anyone with a solid network in the live events game. So if you want in, you just apply, wait for your discount link, and then start sharing it out. That's it.

6:57 I mean, it's simple, transparent, and honestly kind of rewarding. See what I did there? I see what you did, and yes, you're absolutely right. So if you're listening and you've got that contact list burning a hole in your phone, why not give it a go? Anyway, that's all for this week's Future Tech Spotlight, Lacey. Always a pleasure. Yeah, Chris, this was a fun one. See you next time. Everybody keep those gigs coming and we'll catch you on the next Geezers of Gear Future Tech. See ya. Goodbye all, take care and we'll see you soon. Want. The school