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Description Stop experimenting with AI and start driving ROI. Subscribe to our Newsletter:https://theultimatepartner.com/ebook-subscribe/ Check Out UPX:https://theultimatepartner.com/experience/ In this keynote from the Ultimate Partners Winter Retreat, Nina Harding breaks down the massive shift happening in the AI landscape as customers move away from experimental pilots and demand concrete ROI and business outcomes. She emphasizes that the era of selling products and time-and-materials approaches is over, replaced by outcome-based, verticalized selling where vendors and partners share accountability. Through real-world examples in healthcare and retail, Harding outlines how partners can leverage Copilot Studio, Agent 365, and Microsoft’s incentive programs to build specific superpowers, differentiate themselves, and ultimately lead the AI mission alongside Microsoft. Key Takeaways Customers are no longer interested in AI experimentation and now expect immediate, concrete return on investment. Selling products is dead; the modern approach requires a consultative, signal-based strategy focused entirely on business outcomes. The traditional time-and-materials billing model is disappearing as clients demand shared accountability for project success. Rapid proliferation of AI agents has made security and governance top priorities for enterprise customers. Success in the Microsoft ecosystem now requires partners to highly verticalize their value propositions by industry. Defining and clearly articulating your unique “superpower” or niche is essential to stand out to the Microsoft field sales organization. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJJ4Zcf4tZc&t=1920s If you're ready to lead through change, elevate your business, and achieve extraordinary outcomes through the power of partnership—this is your community. At Ultimate Partner® we want leaders like you to join us in the Ultimate Partner Experience – where transformation begins. Key Tags Nina Harding, Microsoft AI, artificial intelligence ROI, AI agents, Agent 365, Copilot Studio, outcome-based selling, verticalization, healthcare AI, retail AI, Cognizant, Davos 2026, AI governance, AI security, technology transformation, Ultimate Partner Live, enterprise AI adoption, digital transformation, system integrators, AI pilots Transcript [00:00:00] Nina Harding: More importantly, we want to serve more and more people faster, and AI is coming in and having a very practical approach in healthcare alone. [00:00:14] Vince Menzione: We just finished Ultimate Partners Winter Retreat here in beautiful Boca to a sold out [00:00:19] Vince Menzione: crowd. Come join me now for a compelling discussion on the impacts of the tectonic shifts we’re all seeing. [00:00:27] Vince Menzione: I feel incredibly fortunate, uh, to have this, this, this friend Nina who came into the studio here for the first time, actually earlier, well last year, geez, earlier this year. [00:00:38] Vince Menzione: It was last year, right after my accident I think. And, uh, we gotta spend some time together. And she was so good to, uh, make her time available and her team’s time available to come down here to be with us today. Ne I’m so thrilled to have you. I am going to turn over the stage to you. Uh, you’ve got some incredible learnings. [00:00:57] Vince Menzione: I know you’ve been on the AI tour with Microsoft. Yeah. And you’ve got some great learnings you’re gonna share about what’s happening. Absolutely. So it’s so great to have you. [00:01:05] Vince Menzione: It’s nice to see you. [00:01:06] Nina Harding: Nice to see you. [00:01:07] Nina Harding: Thank you. Well, thanks everyone. It’s great to see so many familiar faces and then some new faces as well. [00:01:15] Nina Harding: Um, because we’re in a little bit more of an intimate environment, I thought I would approach this a little bit differently. Give you some better insights into what we’re actually hearing at Microsoft with our customers, some of the things that are actually moving the needle that we’re seeing some of our partners do. [00:01:34] Nina Harding: So really to share some of the best practices out there, and hopefully you’ll leave with some more insight or tips and tricks, um, is really what I would love to do because our job. Collectively is really this transformation and to take a advantage of it out there in the market right now. [00:01:57] Nina Harding: Let’s see [00:01:57] Nina Harding: here. [00:01:59] Nina Harding: I can move slides. Well, this one isn’t moving. Any slides? [00:02:07] Nina Harding: No. Okay, great. So, um, some of you might. Uh, know that I’m a Floridian now, right? So I just live right up, up the way in Palm Beach. Um, so not too far, but I still wouldn’t miss this opportunity to be with all of you. Um, there is an energy that I think that we’re all feeling right now, and, uh, it’s, it’s palpable. [00:02:32] Nina Harding: We’re finding right now that our customers are really going from this landscape of experimenting with ai. Really to looking at the outcomes and having expectations around the momentum that they’re seeing. Right. That’s a big shift, right? We, and things are going pretty quickly, so I look at things almost quarterly now on what is that core message and what are, what is the difference in the tone from our customers of what they’re expecting? [00:03:06] Nina Harding: What we’re gonna talk a little bit about today is how all of you, our partners, are such a critical part of that journey. Actually, sometimes the most important part. You’re on the front lines with the customers. You’re the ones having those conversations. You’re the ones that are in there arm to arm with their teams, listening to what they’re experiencing, their challenges that they’re facing, and they’re really wanting now to go from this world of, Hey, we have lots of different pilots. [00:03:41] Nina Harding: Right? A lot of us know that right into, oh my gosh, it’s not about pilots anymore. They really want that ROI story. They want those outcomes and it’s looking very different for all of us. The way that we sell, the way that we go into our engagements, the way that we even price things, the way that we, meaning Microsoft partner and customer are locking arms is fundamentally very different. [00:04:15] Nina Harding: We have to go in collectively. We have to also be responsible for the outcomes and deliver on those. ROI is that headline that we’re all after. Right. It is the most important part of the puzzle right now because there isn’t a single boardroom that isn’t talking about AI and you guys are all experiencing it. [00:04:39] Nina Harding: It’s easier than ever to go in and have the conversation. The hardest part is how do we quickly get to an ROI study, so you or ROI case so that we can continue to build on that. And when you’re looking at this every. Customer is providing signals out there to help you grow that penetration into the account. [00:05:04] Nina Harding: And I’m gonna share some of the signals that I think that are really meaningful. But that’s the most important thing is we’re no longer, and I know you guys all know this, we’re no longer selling product at all anymore. We’re selling those outcomes. And I can tell you at Microsoft, we’re spending a tremendous amount of time retraining all of our sales reps. [00:05:25] Nina Harding: Really to be focused on how do you listen and do that consultative signal based sale. How do you actually go in and start selling, not selling, but I mean it is selling, but listening to the journey that they want to go through. What are the challenges that they’re facing and what’s the transformation that we’re able to kind of go and be a part of together with our partners? [00:05:54] Nina Harding: Notice it’s not about product. Product is just the tools in your tool chest to create those outcomes. So that’s gonna be really important as we go through this journey. [00:06:09] Nina Harding: Uh, so I saw the, the title of the session, uh, mentioned Davos and Davos was an interesting time. Uh, Microsoft has a very, actually, a very big presence at Davos and, uh, we had over 300 customer meetings there, uh, where we were meeting with some of the top companies around the globe. And it was very much affirmed that. [00:06:34] Nina Harding: Uh, the, the concept of AI we’re past, like curiosity stage, right? We’re way past that and we’re even past that. The art of the possible discussion, right? Uh, what the, the customers are almost at the point is, is come in and tell me, tell me what to do. Show me how to do it. It’s a very different position than, Hey, we’re presenting you with all these different possibilities. [00:07:08] Nina Harding: They’re They’re tired. They’re tired of all the possibilities. They wanna get to the brass tacks of how are you gonna change my customer service department? How are you gonna make it easier for my hr? How am I going to derive growth? What are some of the other things that you guys are experiencing out there? [00:07:23] Nina Harding: Like what are some of those other ROI drivers that people are asking, where am I gonna find the money? What for? For doing the project or out of the project? Other people? I Okay. To do the project. Okay. Resourcing. Okay. So what we’re seeing here is that, uh, the conversation is very much now focused on, okay, I need sec, I need security. [00:07:50] Nina Harding: That has been louder than ever before. So, Vince, the one thing I would say about that slide where you had those five different pillars, I’d put security on the bottom. Understanding your data, your data platform on the bottom, those are consistent across all those pillars. And then you can kind of hit at them. [00:08:10] Nina Harding: But, uh, there’s a lot of energy, there’s a lot of excitement, but it’s rooted in what are you materially going to do to change my business, and is your skin in the game to help me do it and I’ll pay you for that outcome? The concept of this time and materials approach gone. Gone. Even at Microsoft, we’re adjusting to the fact that the customers aren’t like, oh. [00:08:35] Nina Harding: Just hand it over to a system integrator and they’ll deliver on it. They’re like, oh no, we want you accountable too. You’re accountable for the outcomes as well, which is, oh gosh, okay. How do we do that in a partnery model that makes sense where we’re not tripping over each other, but we’re going in stronger together. [00:08:54] Nina Harding: We have one message together and we’re really focused on driving that. They’re also really concerned around the governance of all these agents, right? I see a lot of heads shaking on this. I mean, there’s a lot of proliferation right now. There’s a lot of excitement. I mean, I don’t know in your companies, but people are building agents faster and quicker, uh, than ever before, and some of them are really, really cool and they’re making huge point savings of times. [00:09:22] Nina Harding: Everything from. You know, some of you guys have probably heard me talk about everything from, uh, working on performance reviews to what are all of the incentives that we have for partners and making that easy to understand to, uh, to helping me understand patterns in our financials and what partners are really performing and growing. [00:09:45] Nina Harding: All of these agents are just popping up everywhere, but that creates a real governance issue and a real security issue for a lot of companies as well. So you take all of this and you hear this momentum and I think, uh, that together we’re really well poised. I think Microsoft is in a unique position together with you. [00:10:07] Nina Harding: On this frame, we have Agent 365, which helps you manage all these different agents, right? So that’s an exciting. How many of you’re familiar with agents? 365. Great. And I promise I’m not a product person. I’m not gonna do a lot of pitches, so don’t worry about that, um, at all. But, uh, we also have copilot studio and foundry, and so we have this whole, uh, set of capability, but that capability only comes to life if we’re able to connect with the customer, build the outcome, and making sure that the CEOs see all of us as their partners on that strategy and journey. [00:10:47] Nina Harding: So what does that look like? So I talked a little bit about signals, and signals, is that ability to listen to the, to the customers, what’s really, really me, uh, meaningful and frontier firms are doing this on a consistent basis all the time. Listening to the specific needs use cases, et cetera. So we at Microsoft have been trying to not only share all these different use cases that we have exposure to, but in addition. [00:11:17] Nina Harding: We turned on functionality, and I’ll talk about that in a little bit so that we can also share amongst each other as a community and understand those use cases. Uh, what’s really important is that, um, we’re moving from this world of all these like little one-off projects to a strategy and a platform that everyone wants to move to, but it’s all also getting powered by agents. [00:11:42] Nina Harding: That’s, that’s where we are today. So. [00:11:49] Nina Harding: Having a little trouble. I’m not gonna go through this too. Everyone’s familiar with this in, in here, the Frontier overview. If you’re not, let me know. Um, but basically one of the things that we find is really helpful is, is just sharing where we have seen proof behind having the conversation around the AI journey. [00:12:12] Nina Harding: Around the, the customer journey as you’re going out there. Um, there are really four different areas that we’ve talked about, and I’m not going to drain this ’cause there’s lots and you can, you can, uh, go onto the internet. You can see me talking about all these different areas. I don’t wanna spend too much time here, but these are four of the different. [00:12:33] Nina Harding: I would say categories where when you’re looking at different ways that you can make a material difference with the, the, the customer that we find the most momentum. So around enriching employee experiences, changing the way we, uh, engage with customers. Uh, changing processes as well. And then, uh, the outcomes, like really transforming the way we go about business. [00:12:59] Nina Harding: And we wanna do something about bringing it in to the flow of the work, everyday work. How many of you are finding that you’re actually using agents in your day-to-day workflow? Isn’t that cool? And then as you continue to use it, it becomes easier and easier and easier. And. I know from my team, I’m starting to look at what is the e everyday usage versus the monthly usage, right? [00:13:26] Nina Harding: It’s the every day. It’s become almost, uh, your second hand. And what’s important, uh, on this is that we’re giving, uh, listening to all these signals giving, um, the consistency, um, of the, the engagement with. With the clients, we’re able to all share the same stories and be able to scale at a much faster pace. [00:13:54] Nina Harding: So what does that look like? Here we go. Um, one of the things that we talk about at Microsoft, and the reason why I have this up here is that we’ve moved the conversation away from product into these customer outcomes, which really becomes about. Industry discussion. You have to speak their voice. You have to understand their business problems. [00:14:21] Nina Harding: You have to listen for what is materially different. So I’m actually sharing this, which you don’t normally see in a lot of presentations out to Microsoft about the structure of the organization, the takeaway. This is a sales organization in enterprise. The takeaway that I want you to have from that is look at the verticalization. [00:14:43] Nina Harding: We’ve done. It’s no longer by territory. The ball has moved, the conversation has moved entirely. So what does that say to all of you as well? Your value proposition as you’re working with our field has to be verticalized. The way you engage has to be verticalized. What you say, um, what the, the outcomes that you think differentiates yourself. [00:15:12] Nina Harding: Verticalized. So there isn’t the approach of like doing this like mask gorilla campaign across, for example, the Americas. And I’m just using this as an example on, um, the small and medium business side as well. Um, the, they’re a little bit more territory based still, but um, at least at the enterprise, everything has to be about customer value. [00:15:38] Nina Harding: Customer value. So, um, what this also suggests to me is the way we’re working and where we’ve seen a lot of success is when all of you are starting to tailor your messages and differentiate yourselves by customer success stories. Use cases where you’ve had premise, uh, penetration as a software partner, but you have to tie it back to the industry again. [00:16:05] Nina Harding: It’s just different. And so if I’m very transparent that that’s become, has gone from a nice to have to critical as the field is looking at, who are those go-to partners? It’s the go-to partners that speak retail. It’s the go-to partners that speak oil and gas and I don’t know, I, I, I see some nodding of heads. [00:16:27] Nina Harding: Some people know this, some people don’t. But I can see the shift tremendously over the last six months. So, um, hopefully that’s helpful in, in, in kind of sharing just how we’re walking the walk and talking the talk. So as I go back to industry, um, I thought what would be helpful is to take a few examples so you have a chance to see. [00:16:52] Nina Harding: In life, what are, what are we actually seeing at Microsoft? And if you guys are seeing something else, I would love to hear that too. But these, this is an example in healthcare and when we’re looking at, uh, a particular industry, we’re looking at what are some of the pain points? What are the top trends? [00:17:11] Nina Harding: What are some of the challenges folks are, are facing? And then what are the use cases that are really making traction here? This is a different way of taking that frontier vision and doing that click down by industry. And so what we’re also doing is we’re looking at who are partners that can help us in healthcare that can help answer some of these key challenges. [00:17:35] Nina Harding: Who are the ones that have the ability to have those material conversations in that trust? In healthcare, for example, there’s a ton of pressure. I mean. We all are consumers of healthcare. Hopefully we, all of us, have been lucky enough to have healthcare, um, in the, in this, uh, forum, but there’s a lot of clinician burnout, rising costs, right? [00:18:01] Nina Harding: The, the expense for, uh, medicines and so forth. But more importantly, we want to serve more and more people faster, and AI is coming in and having a very practical approach. Healthcare alone. So many of you, I talk about, um, the fact that at one point I was paralyzed, right? So I was paralyzed from T two down and, um, I go in every six months for an MRI, uh, to check, to check if everything’s still functioning. [00:18:32] Nina Harding: And the nervous system is going well. My doctor has had to manually look at that. Now he’s using AI to look at. History and the progression since 2008. That’s game changing. And on top of that, he is looking at me and having a conversation and looking in my eyes and observing me instead and using Dragon to have it feel epic to really think about how that’s changed my personal experience with the healthcare system and changed how a physician can show up. [00:19:09] Nina Harding: So there are many, many, um, many use cases around like patient access and, uh, innovation that we’re trying to do, surgeries, uh, being able to do clinical, clinical trials, but AI is everywhere and that’s what’s really important is that we’re figuring out for all of you what your software solution. Services offering, or even if you’re selling that, you have that value, value proposition down at that level. [00:19:43] Nina Harding: So let’s take a look at retail, for example. We have a short little video. Are we gonna be able to run that video? This is where we’re seeing a lot of shrinking. Margins, people wanting more, uh, intimacy with their customer. Here we go. [00:21:09] Nina Harding: Are we good? Well, that was a quite, uh, quite a nice, uh, uh, digital response to the end of the video. But what you’re seeing is people are using it in all different facets as we go into an example. I always love to do, use examples of partners that are hitting the mark ’cause we can all learn from ’em and myself included. [00:21:30] Nina Harding: We’re partners that are really successful. I chose to use Cognizant. Cognizant was actually our partner Si of the year, um, at the Americas level. And one of the things, and I won’t drain it on, um, the right hand side of this, uh, the slide, but they really are helping the customer’s move in a framework approach by industry, uh, to an AI landscape. [00:21:58] Nina Harding: Uh, they, they have secured an end-to-end solution and they’re focused on real business outcomes, and they have been growing at over 30% year over year. Huge. That’s great. Right? That’s what we all want for our businesses. And so what you’re seeing here is. They have a narrative around the frontier firms and they pull that through when they’re engaged in the clients and with our field. [00:22:27] Nina Harding: And then they’re using the incentives that we have. And don’t worry, I have a slide on some of the incentives we have, um, to actually make sure that they’re using those effectively in the pre-sales motion, but most importantly on the adoption and the change management after they’ve actually, uh, built out the solutions. [00:22:45] Nina Harding: And that’s really, really, really key here. So here’s an example of, um, of Cognizant at Coldwater Creek and Soft Surroundings. They had two different platforms and they brought it all together and then they brought Dynamics in as well. And what they have actually been able to do is improve a lot of the inventory management, the visualization, um, of all the inventory around. [00:23:14] Nina Harding: Around all of their stores and their warehouses, and they’ve been able to streamline the fulfillment and improved, uh, reduced back orders. What you’re seeing is those are all concrete examples of the outcomes that they were trying to drive for at the beginning, and those were all. Key pain points. And so they go in, cognizant will go in and understand with what are the material things that you are, that’s keeping you up at night, that is creating that drainage, uh, in your accounts or if you could transform, what does that look like? [00:23:52] Nina Harding: And so there, they spend the whole conversation together with Microsoft focused on doing that. And then we do the outcome based proposal. Very different, right? It creates for a much stronger vendor relationship, and the customer feels like they really have in the essence of the word partners, helping them to be successful. [00:24:15] Nina Harding: Right. [00:24:20] Nina Harding: Here we go. So I promised you some of the incentives, and I know you might just take a, a quick peek at some of these. These are, these are, um, some of the incentives that. Microsoft has put forward to help our partners on this journey. Uh, this is a slide that we’ve created from the America’s perspective to try and simplify it. [00:24:42] Nina Harding: Now there’s a lot behind it, right? But to try and help simplify, um, where are the incentives available? And I think this is one of the first times you’re actually saying what’s available for the sis. Versus for the software partners. And then we’re gonna hear more today about what’s also available for the channel partners as well. [00:25:03] Nina Harding: Um, it’s really thinking about what is your behavior as a partner? How are you showing up? How are, uh, you making a contribution to that customer? And then how can Microsoft best support you in that journey? So there’s all sorts of, uh, all sorts of incentives here, and it’s really, uh, designed to be flexible to what you need. [00:25:24] Nina Harding: But for the, I, I think it’s very focused on the value proposition as well that you bring to the table. So, um, I encourage you to take a look at this, make sure that you have this in your diary or your flipping of, of how are we maximizing, um, deals. And we can certainly go through a lot more of this. And we have webinars and so forth that will take you through all of that. [00:25:52] Nina Harding: Alright, so. I’ve talked a lot about this outcome-based selling, and that’s, it’s literally how Microsoft is starting to move forward on how do we go about engaging with the customers and with our partners. You’re gonna see, because our customers are asking more Microsoft involved and for us to go jointly into the opportunities. [00:26:16] Nina Harding: Not that we necessarily, we’re not building out a larger consulting force or anything like that, but. We want to make sure that the customer ask that Microsoft is engaged in working with our partners, is honored, um, and that we’re, we’re part of that, and that we’re also sharing our, our experiences and learning from all of you at the same time on who has the best, uh, approach, Beth best, best methodologies and best practices to light up our customers together. [00:26:51] Nina Harding: But the ROI doesn’t really show up just in dollars alone. We all know this, right? Um, it could be in, uh. Satisfaction it could be in care. So as you’re starting to look at this new evolution of how we’re really landing the value proposition of ai, we have to think outside of the box that it’s not just monetary and it’s not, I think you said savings or securing funds and so forth, but it’s really of how do I leapfrog into the modern world? [00:27:22] Nina Harding: How do I change that entire experience and think outside of the box? And, uh, make sure that the conversation is not just about how do we optimize certain practices, but how do we have this more executive level strategy conversation on the future of how we’re gonna engage with our clients, uh, their clients in a much more, um, I think transformative and personal [00:27:51] Nina Harding: way as we go forward. [00:27:54] Nina Harding: So we know that if the outcomes are the, what we’re looking to go drive, the next question is really how do we go do that? And that is gonna be through the agents on here. You’ll see just from from out in the market, what we see will light up the market. We think that, or I can’t even say we, IIDC says 81% of leaders are expecting agents. [00:28:24] Nina Harding: Full utilization in the next 12 to 18 months. And to be honest, I think this quote is probably even two months old. So we’re already, we’re probably down to like, you know, eight, eight to 12 months. And what I’m seeing that proliferation happening, it’s crazy. So understanding that value proposition, um, whether you’re from a software company or a services company or even some of our resellers, what’s that niche? [00:28:52] Nina Harding: What’s that industry or sub-industry? What is that? Horizontal. I go after customer service within, uh, the manufacturing vertical. Right. And then are you building out agents or do you have capability? And that’s what we’re doing internally at Microsoft as well, is to help make that really visible to the field so that you’re differentiated. [00:29:15] Nina Harding: Differentiation is gonna be really key right now because there’s so many people that say, oh, I do migration services, or I can help with data, or I can do security. But it’s the specificity around the industry and what you are truly known for within that space. So one of the things that we look to do is, is looking at all of the different areas where we see agents popping up. [00:29:44] Nina Harding: And this is a helpful slide. Sometimes I think, um, it starts to highlight, um, where we’re seeing some traction in financial services. Or in healthcare manufacturing. And then when I talk about the horizontals or the personas, you start to see some of the um, really repeatable, high return on investment type of things. [00:30:08] Nina Harding: Is this resonating with some of you guys? Yeah. I’m seeing a hit, a lot of head nods. This, if you’re on the services side, right? We’re in an intimate setting. This is where I encourage you to try and build an agent, right? Package that agent, put it on marketplace, make that available, and then make that known to our field sales organization. [00:30:27] Nina Harding: ’cause they are looking for quick wins along those lines. [00:30:31] Nina Harding: So on that, um, [00:30:36] Nina Harding: uh, one of the things that we’re along the journey for is the skilling. This is moving at such a fast pace, right? Um, so you’re looking at. Um, anthropic is really a big topic right now, right? Gemini, you’re looking at cloud, you’re, um, or Claude. [00:30:55] Nina Harding: Um, you’re looking at all of these different, uh, scenarios and one of the things at Microsoft is we really wanna be open to all of these different technologies because our customers are open. So we want to be part of taking you on that journey. And one of the things that we invest in white. [00:31:12] Nina Harding: Significantly is all of the training. Um, and I wanna encourage you guys to take advantage of it. Training is not a one-time thing. It is, it is a constant muscle that you must exercise. So as I come to my conclusion, I have a couple three key things, right? One is really understanding what your superpower is, right? [00:31:33] Nina Harding: The partners that I’m finding are really aligned well with the field are really winning. Those stories are the ones that have. Know and can articulate their superpowers. What am I known for? What are the use cases I can either build to or have agents against? And where have I done this consistently? And packaged really, really concretely, right? [00:31:55] Nina Harding: Um, this, this proliferate of like, I can do everything. Unfortunately, you get lost a little bit in the noise, right? So clear positioning, proof point’s, so critical right now, and reinforcing that credibility with the clients that have adopted. The second thing is that you’ve heard a little bit about this hopefully. [00:32:16] Nina Harding: How many of you have heard of the part partner success story? Okay, this is really, really key. We launched about maybe a month ago, and we already have over a hundred, uh, stories from partners, and the field is loving it. What it is is it brands the stories with your brand if you submit them. So what? Talk about credibility, um, with the field and with our marketers to have your name and that recognition picked up. [00:32:45] Nina Harding: It’s really, really fantastic. So I encourage you to do that. For those of you taking quick snaps, I did put a code on here, so if you wanna go straight to it, uh, you can take it. Um, and go explore with it. What’s nice about it is it’s AI based, so it will help you write these stories very, very quickly. [00:33:04] Nina Harding: There’s no reason why your sales reps can’t be writing these stories, and then yes, [00:33:11] Nina Harding: uh, yeah, you can do no meaning like from enterprise. No. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. You can do it on any, on any, there is a different level of fidelity of if you have the customer’s permission. Right. Um, to pu to publish it or not. And that’s some functionality we’re working on. If there’s enough traction of, of this is to help you guys. [00:33:32] Nina Harding: Secure that with Microsoft. Yeah. Um, but yeah, it can be any customer there. But I encourage you to take a look at that. And I know I’m two minutes over here, so I’m just gonna leave you with this. Um, at the end of the day, as I, as I wrap up here, I just wanna make sure that what, where we’re going and we’re going together, that it’s simple and actionable between us and it’s easy for our field to understand. [00:34:00] Nina Harding: Where you play the value proposition you play so that we’re going into deals even more effectively together. Right? So you heard industry, sub-industry, persona level or horizontal. Put that in if, um. Figuring out what your superpower is, making sure that you’re trained, that there’s evidence around the success, and capturing that in ways, uh, that are critical to not only your business, but giving us the visibility of that success. [00:34:31] Nina Harding: Like scream from the rack rafters. Use these tools to make sure that we know just how transformational you’ve been in some of the customers and where you’re uniquely winning. So, so important. So keep investing in the skilling. You can see my kind of like five power plays, right? And the last one always being that superpowers. [00:34:56] Nina Harding: So with that, um, if we do all of these things consistently, you won’t just be keeping up with ai. I think we will all be leading on that AI mission. So thank you very much. I appreciate it. [00:35:14] Vince Menzione: Don’t forget, ultimate Partner Live is coming soon, May 11th through the 13th in beautiful Bellevue, Washington. I hope to see you there.

Spring Lake Church – BellevueSermon: Stay ConnectedTeacher: Jack GuerraPassages: John 15:1-25Spring Lake Church Bellevue Campus shares “Stay Connected” with Pastor Jack Guerra from John 15:1-25. Jesus calls us to remain in Him as our true source, remembering that apart from Him we can do nothing. As we stay connected, love is expected, and fruit is produced—even in the face of rejection. Be encouraged to abide in Christ and reflect His love. We're glad you're here.springlakechurch.org | springlakechurch.org/give | springlakechurch.org/prayer

Opening and closing piano music courtesy of Harpeth Presbyterian Church. This podcast is sponsored by MouseCalls of Bellevue (37-221) -- "The guys who beat the tech in the truck!" (emphasis added)More AI posturing — this time in Harper's Magazine — here's the specious content. ".... and microplastics inhibit oceanic carbon uptake …”This is a common misconception;  plastic can not exist at a microscopic level, it's a non-dissolvable solid. It's not digestible or biodegradable in any fashion.  There is even a commercial running in Nashville, Tennessee, using the same rubric, suggesting microplastics may exist in your kitchen faucet.  It just Ain't so!By the way, if it did, you would choke on your first glass. No living organism can absorb or digest any amount of plastic. If indeed you are concerned, drink only filtered water from your refrigerator, as a solid, plastic does not exist on a microscopic level. Scanned by iPhone Harpers Magazine/March 20-26 P/80

The millionaire's tax is on its way to passing, OpenAI expands footprint in Bellevue, and the 5th Avenue Theatre announces layoffs. It’s our daily roundup of top stories from the KUOW newsroom, with host Paige Browning. We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed. Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jason yelled at someone on CNN last night over the war in Iran. Washington argues in court against the Trump Admin cutting funds for trans surgeries. // Big Local: Pierce County passes a new public safety tax. OpenAI opens a new office in Bellevue. A Puyallup school went into lockdown over “aggressive behavior” from a student. // Fridays with Jake Skorheim: KIRO News Radio's Jake Skorheim on a new study about "luxury airports."

OpenAI just opened its largest office outside San Francisco, in downtown Bellevue, Wash. GeekWire was there on day one to tour the space. Chatting inside the OpenAI game room, we share our observations about the Mad Men-meets-Pacific Northwest aesthetic, which features open floor plans and lots of common areas, and try to figure out what it all says about OpenAI's culture. Plus, we talk with Vijaye Raji, the former Statsig CEO who is now OpenAI's CTO of applications, about Codex, infrastructure, hiring, and the evolution and growth of Silicon Valley tech giants in the region. In our final segment, it's the return of the GeekWire trivia challenge, with a question focusing on one of the earliest tech giants to establish an outpost in the Seattle area. Related Story: Inside OpenAI’s new Bellevue office: A swanky statement about AI’s impact on the Seattle region Upcoming Event: Agents of Transformation, March 24. With GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook. Edited by Curt Milton.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome back Pauper fam! This week we return to the control archetype to go over some updates to the more long-form decks of the format and how they line up against the metagame that exists today. Gardens has seen a resurgence online as Rally overtakes Madness as the red deck of choice and the UB Terror decks have also been seeing more play. Plus a chat about some intriguing innovations to the Hexproof deck in the latest MTGO challenge list dump. Thank you as always for listening!Join our Discord! https://discord.gg/kdvSavFkpzCheck out our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@CommonGroundMTG2026 Listener Survey: https://forms.gle/UoEtF4U6VjKWvozu9Upcoming Pauper Events:March 7th - Win-Some-Beta-Basics Pauper Tournament @ Hobby Town, Bowling Green KY: https://topdeck.gg/event/pauper-event-win-beta-landsMarch 15th - $2.5k Pauper Trial @ NRG Series,  Elmhurst IL: https://www.nrgevents.gg/conventions/nrg-events-elmhurst-il/events/nrg-series-magic-25k-pauper-trialMarch 15th - Rhein-Ruhr Series @ The Phoenix Inn, Oberhausen, Germany: https://tcgevents.net/events/ea013140738716eMarch 15th - Pauper 5k @ Shoebox, Minneapolis MN - https://shoebox.gg/events#pauper-5kMarch 21st - Win-A-Dual @ Game Knight, Columbia TN - https://www.gameknighttn.com/s/shopApril 4th (DATE CHANGE!) - The next Court of Commons Quarterly @ Enchanted Gaming Emporium, Murray KY - https://topdeck.gg/event/court-of-commons-quarterly-pauper-yippeeApril 25th - London Pauper Showdown 4 "The Darkest Ritual" - https://www.badgerbadger.org/event/london-pauper-showdown-4-the-darkest-ritual/North Carolina-Area Listeners: Check out the Piedmont Pauper League @ Dragon's Hoard, Greensboro NC! 6 monthly tournaments culminate in a grand prize: travel stipend and entry into CGCup4 this summer! March event registration is now open: https://www.spicerack.gg/events/3038379The Cascadia Pauper Circuit presented by Pauper PNW: www.PauperPNW.org Next event is March 8th!Nashville-Area Thursday Pauper League @ Middle TN Gaming in Bellevue: https://www.facebook.com/p/Middle-Tennessee-Gaming-61567309793600/Any questions or feedback for us? Email us at: commongroundmtgpod@gmail.comhttps://twitter.com/CamPlaysMagichttps://twitter.com/Hippo_1124Thomas' BlueSky: @thomasdoesalot.bsky.social Hippo's BlueSky: @hippo2112.bsky.social 

Your Nebraska Update headlines for today, March 4, include: Sergeant First Class Noah Tietjens of Bellevue identified as one of six U.S. service members killed during Operation Epic Fury, gas prices in Nebraska jump sharply following Middle East bombings, lawmakers debate proposed cigarette tax increase, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Faculty Senate to consider no-confidence motion, Regional West in Scottsbluff to be downgraded to Level Three trauma center, drought conditions may limit water use in North Platte River Valley, girls state basketball marks 50 years amid declining participation.

Welcome to Transmission Interrupted! In this episode, host Jill Morgan sits down with the principal investigators of NETEC—Dr. Aneesh Mehta, Dr. Vikramjit Mukherjee, and Dr. John Lowe—to reflect on a decade of advancing special pathogen preparedness across the U.S. healthcare system. Together, they revisit the origins of NETEC, tracing back to the transformative events of the 2014 Ebola outbreak, and share their unique journeys as infectious disease experts, critical care clinicians, and scientists on the front lines. The conversation dives into the challenges and lessons learned while building a national network equipped for high-consequence infectious diseases, the evolution from isolated specialty units to a system-wide approach, and the critical importance of healthcare worker safety. You'll hear insights on what it takes to maintain readiness in a landscape of ever-changing threats, the value of interdisciplinary collaboration, and a call to expand this “tight-knit club” of preparedness champions. Whether you're a healthcare professional, public health advocate, or just curious about how the U.S. prepares for medical crises, this episode delivers an inspiring look at the past, present, and future of special pathogen response—and why it matters to us all. Guests John-Martin Lowe, PhD John-Martin Lowe, PhD, is the director of the Global Center for Health Security, assistant vice chancellor for health security training and education, and professor of Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. At the University of Nebraska Medical Center, he leads research and training initiatives to advance environmental risk assessment and infection control for high consequence pathogens. As a virologist and environmental exposure scientist, Dr. Lowe has worked extensively throughout the U.S., Africa, Asia and Europe as an educator, researcher, and in health emergency risk management related to infectious disease, infection control and emergency response. As a professor of environmental and occupational health, his expertise focuses on infectious disease risk assessment and management of risk for clinical, community and industrial environments. Dr. Lowe also has extensive experience in emerging pathogens and health security. He is co-PI for the U.S. National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center, established an international network for emerging infectious diseases, and served lead investigator for a multi-country bio-surveillance network in Africa. He has experience in a broad range of health security topics from surveillance, public health response and clinical response to health emergencies. Dr. Lowe led successful COVID-19 efforts in 2020 at the National Quarantine Unit and Nebraska Biocontainment Unit to provide monitoring and care for repatriated U.S. citizens exposed to and infected with SARS Coronavirus 2. He also led early and continued efforts to characterize the transmission dynamics of SARS Coronavirus 2 which were presented to in a joint meeting hosted by the Academy of Medicine and American Public Health Association on April 15, 2020. Dr. Aneesh Mehta, MD, FIDSA, FAST Aneesh Mehta is a Professor of Medicine and of Surgery at Emory University School of Medicine, and also serves as the Chief of Infectious Diseases Services and Assistant Director of Transplant Infectious Diseases at Emory University Hospital. He is a board-certified infectious diseases physician, who received an MD from the University of Oklahoma and completed Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases training at Emory University. Aneesh has been one of the core physicians of the Emory Serious Communicable Diseases Unit (SCDU) since 2009. He was admitted physician for Emory's first patient with Ebola Virus Disease and was highly involved in care of the four patients with EVD, one patient with Lassa Fever, and several PUIs cared for by the Emory SCDU. During the Ebola activation, Aneesh was involved in all aspects of unit management, patient care, laboratory handling, and research. Aneesh is a co-Principal Investigator at NETEC. He also has been involved in development of the Special Pathogens Research Network Biorepository and evaluation of Medical Countermeasures. Vikramjit Mukherjee, MD, FRCP (Edin) Vikramjit Mukherjee is an intensive care physician who serves as the Chief of Critical Care at NYC Health+Hospitals/Bellevue. He also is the Chief of Bellevue's Special Pathogens Program. Dr. Mukherjee is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Dr. Mukherjee serves as co-Principal Investigator for NETEC, as a steering committee member for the National Special Pathogens System of Care, and as an executive member of the Task Force for Mass Critical Care. His research interests include special pathogen preparedness and mass critical care. Vikramjit Mukherjee completed his medical training at Armed Forces Medical College, India, before arriving in the United States. Here, he completed his residency and chief residency at Georgetown University/Washington Hospital Center and fellowship and chief fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at New York University Medical Center. Following completion of training in 2015, he joined faculty in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at New York University Grossman School of Medicine. Host Jill Morgan, RN Emory Healthcare, Atlanta, GA Jill Morgan is a registered nurse and a subject matter expert in personal protective equipment (PPE) for NETEC. For 35 years, Jill has been an emergency department and critical care nurse, and now splits her time between education for NETEC and clinical research, most of it centering around infection prevention and personal protective equipment. She is a member of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), ASTM International, and the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI). Resources About NETECNETEC LeadershipTransmission Interrupted PodcastNational Special Pathogen System (NSPS)NETEC Resource Library About NETEC A Partnership for Preparedness The National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center's mission is to set the gold standard for special pathogen preparedness and response across health systems in the U.S. with the goals of driving best practices, closing knowledge gaps, and developing innovative resources. Our vision is a sustainable infrastructure and culture of readiness for managing suspected and confirmed special pathogen incidents across the United States public health and health care delivery systems. For more information visit NETEC on the web at www.netec.org. NETEC Consultation Services Assess and Advance Your Readiness for Special Pathogens with Free, Expert Consulting. NETEC offers free virtual and onsite readiness consulting to help health care facilities and EMS agencies prepare for special pathogen events. Our targeted support services are delivered by experts selected and assigned to each inquiry based on the unique needs of your organization. Have a question? Ask a NETEC expert. For more information visit: netec.org/consulting-services.

This is the VIC 4 VETS, Weekly Honored Veteran. SUBMITTED BY: Fox News Pentagon identifies four soldiers killed in March 1 drone strike during Kuwait military operation All soldiers were assigned to 103rd Sustainment Command in Des Moines, Iowa The Department of War on Monday identified four of the six U.S. Army Reserve soldiers killed in a March 1 drone attack in Kuwait while supporting Operation Epic Fury, and officials said the incident remains under investigation. The soldiers were killed at the Port of Shuaiba during what officials described as an unmanned aircraft system attack. All were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command in Des Moines, Iowa, which provides logistical and operational support to U.S. forces overseas. The fallen service members were identified as Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Lakeland, Florida; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; and Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of Des Moines, Iowa. Two additional soldiers killed in the attack have not yet been publicly identified. Lt. Gen. Robert Harter, chief of Army Reserve and commanding general of U.S. Army Reserve Command, said the loss is deeply felt across the force. "We honor our fallen Heroes who served fearlessly and selflessly in defense of our nation," Harter said. "Their sacrifice, and the sacrifices of their families, will never be forgotten."________________________________________________________________ This Week’s VIC 4 VETS, Honored Veteran on NewsTalkSTL.With support from our friends at:Alamo Military Collectables, Gemini Wealth Group, H.E.R.O.E.S. CARE,Inc., Freddie's Market, and Michel Funeral Home See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

And, of course, honoring a fallen soldier from Bellevue.  This is where we come to laugh, cry, and get through the day together.

This is the VIC 4 VETS, Weekly Honored Veteran. SUBMITTED BY: Fox News Pentagon identifies four soldiers killed in March 1 drone strike during Kuwait military operation All soldiers were assigned to 103rd Sustainment Command in Des Moines, Iowa The Department of War on Monday identified four of the six U.S. Army Reserve soldiers killed in a March 1 drone attack in Kuwait while supporting Operation Epic Fury, and officials said the incident remains under investigation. The soldiers were killed at the Port of Shuaiba during what officials described as an unmanned aircraft system attack. All were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command in Des Moines, Iowa, which provides logistical and operational support to U.S. forces overseas. The fallen service members were identified as Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Lakeland, Florida; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; and Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of Des Moines, Iowa. Two additional soldiers killed in the attack have not yet been publicly identified. Lt. Gen. Robert Harter, chief of Army Reserve and commanding general of U.S. Army Reserve Command, said the loss is deeply felt across the force. "We honor our fallen Heroes who served fearlessly and selflessly in defense of our nation," Harter said. "Their sacrifice, and the sacrifices of their families, will never be forgotten."________________________________________________________________ This Week’s VIC 4 VETS, Honored Veteran on NewsTalkSTL.With support from our friends at:Alamo Military Collectables, Gemini Wealth Group, H.E.R.O.E.S. CARE,Inc., Freddie's Market, and Michel Funeral Home See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Washington’s gas prices are going up, but how much of it is due to conflict in the Middle East vs. state and local policies? Leftists are suggesting Iran isn’t better of with the Ayatollah dead. A petulant Washington Democrat has tantrum over having to hear GOP opposition. // Big Local: A man allegedly brandished a gun at an Iranian rally in Bellevue. Bellevue saw a significant drop in crime last year. A Tukwilla teen was detained 3 times in one night at the same store. // You Pick the Topic: A nationwide chain is unveiling a ranch milkshake. An MLB team is offering unlimited concessions for just $29.

Subscribe to our Newsletter:https://theultimatepartner.com/ebook-subscribe/Check Out UPX:https://theultimatepartner.com/experience/ The Shift from Attention to Trust In this compelling episode, Ashleigh Vogstad, CEO of Transcends, joins Vince Menzione to discuss the tectonic shifts occurring in the global partner ecosystem. Ashleigh shares her firsthand experiences studying AI at Oxford, the rise of the “Trust Economy,” and the controversial Amazon vs. Perplexity lawsuit. They dive deep into the practicalities of becoming a “Frontier Firm,” the importance of building proprietary AI agents, and the ways Gen Z and AI-driven marketplaces are revolutionizing the buyer journey. Whether you are looking to win Microsoft Partner of the Year or navigate the demise of traditional SaaS, this conversation provides a strategic roadmap for leading through the AI revolution. Key Takeaways The economy is shifting from a focus on human attention to a foundation of verified trust. Future commerce will involve “selling to machines” as AI agents begin making purchasing decisions on behalf of humans. Microsoft is prioritizing “Frontier Firms” that integrate AI into every customer interaction and internal process. Gen Z buyers are prioritizing product value and “dupes” over traditional brand names, with 75% of buyers expected to be Gen Z by 2030. To win Partner of the Year, organizations must publicly celebrate “better together” stories with validated customer wins. Modern leaders should transition from a “growth mindset” to a “frontier mindset” to keep pace with rapid technological change. https://youtu.be/xJmd43NvfnI If you're ready to lead through change, elevate your business, and achieve extraordinary outcomes through the power of partnership—this is your community. At Ultimate Partner® we want leaders like you to join us in the Ultimate Partner Experience – where transformation begins. Key Tags Trust Economy, Selling to Machines, Amazon vs Perplexity Lawsuit, Frontier Firm, AI Agents, Copilot Studio, Anthropic Claude, Microsoft Partner of the Year, B2B Marketplaces, Gen Z Buyer Behavior, Digital Freedom, AI Therapy, Ray Kurzweil Singularity, Substack Growth, Co-selling Partnerships, MCI Funding, Azure Accelerate, Agentic AI, Transcending Tech, Ashleigh Vogstad. Transcript Asleigh Vogstad Audio Podcast [00:00:00] Ashleigh Vogstad: The attention economy is about selling to human beings. Now, if you look at something like the Amazon versus Perplexity lawsuit, the whole underlying premise is around the shift of no longer selling to humans directly, but of selling to machines. [00:00:19] Vince Menzione: We just finished Ultimate Partners Winter Retreat here in beautiful Boca to a sold out crowd. Today I’m joined by Ashley Waad. The CEO of transcends for this compelling discussion. Ash, welcome back to the podcasts. [00:00:34] Ashleigh Vogstad: It’s so good to be here, Vince. Thank you. Uh, [00:00:37] Vince Menzione: so well, we’re back in Boca again and we were just here yesterday for the Ultimate Partner Executive Winter Retreat in person. [00:00:44] Vince Menzione: What a great event we had together. [00:00:46] Ashleigh Vogstad: It was phenomenal. Thank you so much for having us there and on stage and, and genuinely the community is like a family, so seeing so many familiar faces and spending some quality time was just great. [00:00:57] Vince Menzione: It has really, truly become like family. It really, I’m, I’m, I’m having so much fun with this and getting to watch. [00:01:04] Vince Menzione: Not just our business grow and our community grow, but to see all of our friends and, uh, organizations like Transcends that have been with us since the beginning, since the very first ultimate partner acting even before the first ultimate partner. And, uh. We were just talking about. I’d love to catch up with what you’ve been doing. [00:01:22] Vince Menzione: Like you just came, you’ve been on a whirlwind. I mean, you’re always, every time like it’s, where’s Ash? She’s, uh, she’s on a plane again, or she’s on, she’s on the slopes. But tell us where you were just this week. [00:01:34] Ashleigh Vogstad: Yeah. The week started in a snowstorm, actually transporting myself from Whistler. I didn’t know if I would make it to the airport, but then down to Silicon Valley and [00:01:45] Vince Menzione: Nice. [00:01:46] Ashleigh Vogstad: Wow, that place is just inspiring and eyeopening. I mean, seeing the Nvidia campus, a MD, it’s really just other worldly and it had me reflecting on, it’s [00:02:00] Vince Menzione: not Whistler. Yeah, it’s [00:02:02] Ashleigh Vogstad: definitely not Whistler. Definitely not Whistler [00:02:05] Vince Menzione: about, [00:02:06] Ashleigh Vogstad: um, yeah, it just had me reflecting on being down there. I used to spend a lot of time in the Valley around 2017 and. [00:02:13] Ashleigh Vogstad: In this theme of AI and kind of what’s really coming, I was, I was thinking about, I had met this woman, Julia Moss Bridge, who’s a neuroscientist studying ai. She had a project called Loving Ai, and I was down there when they had borrowed Sophia, this humanoid robot from S and Robotics. [00:02:32] Vince Menzione: Oh yes. Yes. [00:02:33] Ashleigh Vogstad: Really interesting. [00:02:34] Ashleigh Vogstad: Sophia’s actually a citizen of Saudi. Mm-hmm. First, first robot to actually be made citizen of a country. So they had Sophia set up and the part that was just mind boggling at the time was that Sophia was hosting in real life therapy sessions with actual human beings sitting across the table. And what really struck me as. [00:02:59] Ashleigh Vogstad: Kind of just, you know, that was only eight, nine years ago. And that was esoteric. Wacky and [00:03:05] Vince Menzione: eerie. [00:03:05] Ashleigh Vogstad: Weird. [00:03:05] Vince Menzione: Eerie at the time. [00:03:06] Ashleigh Vogstad: Incredibly eerie. Yeah. I mean, a, a human getting, uh, you know, therapy sessions from a robot sitting across the table. Yeah. And it just had me thinking how far we’ve come today. In 2025, Harvard Business Review said that therapy is actually the number one use case for ai. [00:03:26] Vince Menzione: I’ve heard that. That is striking. I go back to COVID. We were having this conversation last night at at the dinner for the Ultimate Partner event, and I think that COVID allowed us to transcend, [00:03:42] Ashleigh Vogstad: mm-hmm. [00:03:42] Vince Menzione: No pun intended there, but actually accelerate where we are today, that the acceptance of AI and the acceleration, or the ability to accept change so quickly. [00:03:56] Vince Menzione: Started with COVID because we were so, so we were forced on whatever it was, March 10th I think, here in the United States to shut down everything and move to this remote life. [00:04:08] Ashleigh Vogstad: Mm-hmm. [00:04:09] Vince Menzione: And I think we’ve been shocked by that. I think our systems have all been shocked by that. And then here comes chat GBT in November of 2022 and we’re like. [00:04:20] Vince Menzione: Shocked in some respects, but like really everyone has embraced it in such a strong way, and now we’re getting. It’s almost daily update. You know, we’re gonna talk, I know we’re gonna talk about Anthropic and some of the things that’s been happening just in this last month that are striking and changing that have a lot of organizations trying to navigate, which is what, you know, you, you help organizations do. [00:04:43] Vince Menzione: But it feels like this is happening so fast and will continue to happen so fast. And as I said yesterday, I don’t know what this world’s gonna look like by 2030. [00:04:53] Ashleigh Vogstad: You know, and I think the thing is, is that nobody knows what the world is gonna look like in 2030. I’ve been reading Ray Kurz Well’s, the Singularity is nearer, so the original book, the Singularity is near and he’s known to be a very accurate predictionist on the future. [00:05:11] Ashleigh Vogstad: Yeah. But even with someone like that, you know, there, there nobody really knows what the world is gonna look like. And when you talk about COVID. At transcends, we have a value of digital freedom. So I founded the business in 2018, which was pre COVID. I as a fully remote organization, and at the time that was, you know, more groundbreaking, but then very quickly with CI that, that became the so-called new normal. [00:05:37] Ashleigh Vogstad: But we’re always thinking about. You know, remote first doesn’t mean remote only, and I think in this tide of what you’ve talked about, technological change being more acceptable and the pace of change. One of the interesting things that we see as a go-to-market agency is that in-person events are increasing. [00:05:56] Vince Menzione: Yes. [00:05:57] Ashleigh Vogstad: People want and crave the face-to-face. Just like with the ultimate partner series. [00:06:02] Vince Menzione: I felt it. So it was striking yesterday. It, it seems like it’s, again, this was event number nine for us, but to see the, um, uh, receptiveness isn’t the right term, but it was this, uh, people, the, the embracing. Of seeing each other and hugging each other and being in the same room with each other. [00:06:22] Vince Menzione: And even people that didn’t know each other, like by the, the, as the day evolved, this, uh, connection that they all seemed to have with one another during the sessions and participating, everyone actively participated in the sessions. And, um, I said this in the beginning, we’re not a Slack channel and we’re not like some post on LinkedIn. [00:06:43] Vince Menzione: Uh, we’re there, there’s no playbook that’s set today around partnerships or even go to markets and marketing that we could espouse and say, this is the playbook for the next year. Right. It’s, it’s changing so rapidly. [00:06:55] Ashleigh Vogstad: So rapidly, [00:06:57] Vince Menzione: and you’ve embraced it. And I, and what we’re gonna talk about right now, I mean, I, I, you know, you’ve embraced AI in such a strong way. [00:07:04] Vince Menzione: Um, personally and with your business, I want to, I wanna dive in here a little bit. First of all, a couple things For those of those who are listening who don’t know you, I think maybe just a moment about transcends and your role, and then I wanna dive in on how you’re thinking about ai because I know you’re doing some things personally. [00:07:22] Vince Menzione: I want you to share that with, with our listeners and viewers today. [00:07:25] Ashleigh Vogstad: Yeah, great. And I just wanna comment that it was a cool moment yesterday being up on stage with yourself and Mark Monday from ServiceNow and having the audience so engaged and active and Nina Harding from Microsoft stepping up and entering the conversation. [00:07:40] Vince Menzione: So cool. [00:07:41] Ashleigh Vogstad: It just made for such a collaborative experience, which was a cool moment, but yeah. Um, so. I founded this business, transcends a go-to-market agency after being at Microsoft myself. And really our differentiation is deep strategic partnerships with hyperscalers, whether that’s AWS, Google, Microsoft, and you know, that. [00:08:03] Ashleigh Vogstad: It comes with a challenge to be on the leading edge of technology. [00:08:08] Vince Menzione: Yes, [00:08:09] Ashleigh Vogstad: it, it’s really an imperative for our business and we are an AI first firm. Microsoft talks a lot about Frontier Firm, and I’ll take a, a different kind of angle on it. You know, when I think about Frontier. I now think about it as instead of the growth mindset, I now think about a frontier mindset. [00:08:28] Vince Menzione: Frontier mindset. You have to change my principles. [00:08:32] Ashleigh Vogstad: You know, maybe, like you said, the world is changing so rapidly. Yeah, it’s [00:08:36] Vince Menzione: changing rapidly. [00:08:36] Ashleigh Vogstad: And what a frontier mindset means is that as we’re approaching work for our clients, we are thinking about AI innovation in every single customer. Interaction, customer innovation. [00:08:49] Ashleigh Vogstad: So today we’re building AI agents into much of the work that we’re delivering for clients. And as a business owner and leader, I’ve been challenged to also think critically around how I’m choosing to run the company. And right now we’re going through a huge overhaul of where we have data sitting in silos and different applications. [00:09:09] Ashleigh Vogstad: Yep. And getting that into one place with one view so we can start layering on more insight. AI innovation. [00:09:17] Vince Menzione: Yeah. And data’s such an critical part, part of this, as we, we talked about yesterday. But you know, even the, what you said, which is, would, would’ve been striking a year ago to say, we’re an AI first, uh, agency isn’t as striking anymore. [00:09:32] Vince Menzione: Uh, we heard Nina when we were having this conversation on stage yesterday, say that it’s an imperative at Microsoft that the agencies that they choose to work with, the third party vendors that they work with have to be an AI first organization. I have to be a frontier firm, and so I’m a, I am sensitive to the word frontier firm. [00:09:53] Vince Menzione: I understand why Microsoft uses it and I understand the value of what we used to call, you know, customer zero or back in the day we used to say eating your own dog food, but essentially being an organization that has leaned in, in a way, and with ai. Even more so, so important to do it. So tell us, I know you’ve done some things personally as well, but tell, tell us what you’ve done with the organization. [00:10:18] Vince Menzione: Uh, you talked about data and making data available and having, having a true data state as opposed to silos of data, but then you also made some personal investments and sacrifices. I would say. [00:10:30] Ashleigh Vogstad: Yeah. [00:10:30] Vince Menzione: Yeah. In terms of what you’re doing around ai, [00:10:32] Ashleigh Vogstad: so I mean, let’s start on the personal side. I’m the CEO of my organization, and you can read in books or news articles that it is critical for AI transformation to start at the C-suite and specifically in the CEO seat. [00:10:46] Vince Menzione: Yes. [00:10:46] Ashleigh Vogstad: And that really. Landed for me and so I’m personally leading in About two weeks ago, I built an agent, just end-to-end on my own, got into copilot studio. Wow. Got comfortable with the interface. You know, I was clunky moving around in there at first, chose my model. You know, I went with one of the anthropic Claude models for this particular project and built up an agent that can deliver executive communications like. [00:11:14] Ashleigh Vogstad: Thought leadership blogs, uh, LinkedIn posts, but in a particular human being’s voice by ingesting things like their social profiles, their SharePoint sites, where they live and work. And it has been so surprising doing an ab test between just what a chat GBT or a copilot could produce. [00:11:32] Yeah. [00:11:33] Ashleigh Vogstad: In comparison with the authenticity of the voice coming from the agent. [00:11:37] Ashleigh Vogstad: Uh, it was just a really cool experience to roll up the sleeves and get in there. But also I think the, the investment that you’re referring to is, I made a big decision to return to school and uh, got accepted to go to Oxford. [00:11:52] Vince Menzione: Wow. [00:11:52] Ashleigh Vogstad: And I’m studying artificial intelligence there. [00:11:54] Vince Menzione: That is incredible. That is incredible. [00:11:57] Vince Menzione: Oxford, uh, we’ve heard of that school before here in the United States. [00:12:03] Ashleigh Vogstad: You know, it’s been a really great experience. It’s in person, so I’m traveling there about every 60 to 90 days and living on campus. I mean, really, Oxford isn’t. Formally a campus, it’s sort of a, a city and a university all, all ruled into one and the experience has been really powerful. [00:12:21] Ashleigh Vogstad: Yes. One of the things I wanted to get outta the program was a more global perspective, and it’s been fascinating to me that about half the faculty so far, or or professors, guest lecturers that have been coming into the program have been from China or very direct experience working in the Chinese market. [00:12:38] Vince Menzione: That is fascinating. [00:12:39] Ashleigh Vogstad: It’s been a completely different view. Or for example, you know, really digging into some of the legal cases that are driving precedence for how AI is interacting with corporations. [00:12:51] Vince Menzione: Mm. [00:12:51] Ashleigh Vogstad: One of the big ones for me has been looking at Amazon versus p perplexity. This is still a live case that’s happening right now. [00:12:58] Ashleigh Vogstad: And you know, I think it was Forbes magazine that the headline was the End of Commerce for this case because it’s really about. How human beings are being replaced with machines and hearing some of the world’s leading thinkers, leading AI researchers on these topics has just been really expansive. [00:13:19] Vince Menzione: It’s fascinating. [00:13:20] Vince Menzione: I mean, it’s, this started a couple years ago with, uh, Hollywood, in fact. Suing the industry or suing the technology companies with regards to, uh, employment, right? Mm-hmm. About the, the, uh, copyright infringement and what’s gonna happen in the entertainment industry. And I think that was just a one very small example. [00:13:40] Ashleigh Vogstad: You know, voice people think about DeepFakes. Yeah. And they think about video, but actually voice is a big issue. And you look at the, um, you know, the what happened between Scarlett Johansson and her voice in her, and then open AI rolling out a voice that sounded identical. Sounds like her. [00:13:59] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:13:59] Ashleigh Vogstad: To Scarlett Johansen and, and where that went. [00:14:01] Ashleigh Vogstad: It’s, it, this is a new ground for, for everybody that we’re going through right now. [00:14:07] Vince Menzione: It is. We can dive and go in so many different directions, but let’s talk about marketing and advertising since that’s kind of. Transcends core, and a lot of the people that watch and listen to us are in the partnership world. [00:14:22] Vince Menzione: They’re leading organizations, they own organizations, the the chief executives or CVPs of organizations. Let’s talk about advertising and where that’s going. [00:14:32] Ashleigh Vogstad: Yeah, great. [00:14:33] Vince Menzione: Yeah, [00:14:33] Ashleigh Vogstad: I mean, uh, I love Marshall McCluen. He’s a Canadian theor, uh, media theorist, and in 1964, he very famously said, the medium is the message. [00:14:43] Ashleigh Vogstad: And what that really means when you peel back the layers is that every type of communication medium has these inherent biases. And I think what we’re experiencing right now is this new medium of artificial intelligence, and I’m really interested in exploring what that means for the media world. So. If I gonna take you back to 1997, there’s this really famous, the Innovator’s Dilemma. [00:15:10] Ashleigh Vogstad: Yes. Kind of a classic business 1 0 1 type book by Clayton Christensen. Yes. And he talks about this theory of disruption where new technologies, emerging technologies start at the low end of the market. They gain this momentum and they eventually displace incumbents. And you know, sometimes seemingly out of nowhere. [00:15:28] Vince Menzione: Yeah. And Microsoft was a good example of this at that time. [00:15:32] Ashleigh Vogstad: Def, [00:15:32] Vince Menzione: yeah. [00:15:33] Ashleigh Vogstad: All the big players. All the big players. I mean, Google go for search as well, right? So that’s one of the classic examples. And so. If we look at storytelling technology, you have things like chat, GBT and Sora entering the scene. And in the beginning, you know, they’re producing a shitty first draft. [00:15:51] Ashleigh Vogstad: Uh, you know, it’s things like post-apocalyptic dogs with five finger human beings. Yeah. Things like this. But, you know, and they really lacked emotional resonance. But as we all know. That’s not the case anymore. No, it’s [00:16:05] Vince Menzione: not. [00:16:06] Ashleigh Vogstad: AI is increasingly producing content that is very powerful and is starting to resonate with people. [00:16:13] Ashleigh Vogstad: You know, I’m definitely not a neuroscientist, but if we, we look into the neuroscience, it’s your cortical sal circuit that. Kind of is responsible for pattern recognition and it compares what you’re seeing in the real world with what you expect to see. So when you take this into a space of advertising, you know, if there’s an ad that is AI generated, that is just weird and kind of. [00:16:38] Ashleigh Vogstad: Tweaking for you. [00:16:39] Vince Menzione: Like that robot we were talking about earlier, [00:16:41] Ashleigh Vogstad: like the robot we were Exactly, yeah. Like Sophia, you enter what psychologists call the uncanny valley, so it’s like what you’re looking at isn’t exactly what you’re expecting to see and the Spidey sense is, is tweaking. You know, that’s a low place of emotional resonance. [00:16:58] Ashleigh Vogstad: This world is changing really, really quickly and we’re seeing AI generated media make huge impacts in the market Now, tools like Luma Dream Machine, I mean, it’s incredible what they can achieve today. [00:17:11] Vince Menzione: It’s fascinating. We see it in, you know, I spend a lot of time on LinkedIn. That’s sort of the world of our business community, and you can very easily detect when someone is doing a post. [00:17:22] Vince Menzione: Or they’re writing an art, whatever they’re doing. Right. Some type of draft of something. Uh, and you can tell when it’s ai, I mean, it’s so easy to tell, and even people are generating reports and claiming that their research papers or studies or whatever they call them, uh, and it’s AI generated and it’s just the authenticity isn’t there. [00:17:39] Vince Menzione: The, the sense that this is real. That it can be trusted is not there. And I think trust is what we’re talking about here too, as well. [00:17:47] Ashleigh Vogstad: Yeah. I mean, let’s go to authenticity ’cause that’s super important. Yeah. And I know a lot of your listeners, you come from the hyperscaler world of partnerships. You need to have that differentiated, better together story. [00:17:59] Ashleigh Vogstad: Yeah. It’s really important to have an authentic voice in market. And I think about that also in terms of platforms and channels. We’re seeing a decrease in certain major social media platforms, and yet Substack spiked 48% in monthly active users last month. [00:18:15] Vince Menzione: That’s [00:18:16] fascinating. [00:18:16] Ashleigh Vogstad: Um, you know, and I think that one of the reasons is it’s viewed as a more authentic channel where you’re getting thought leadership from people that you’re, you know, genuinely interested in hearing their, their points of view. [00:18:28] Ashleigh Vogstad: And I think that’s really an important piece in here. [00:18:31] Vince Menzione: Yeah, you mentioned this yesterday and you had me thinking about it as well because we have used LinkedIn for everything internally, our newsletter, which has been around for six or seven years now. But that Substack is really, and I go to Substack too, to, if I really wanna dig in on a topic. [00:18:47] Ashleigh Vogstad: Mm. [00:18:47] Vince Menzione: And there’s a particular author that I like their point of view, I’ll follow, I’ll follow them on Substack. [00:18:53] Ashleigh Vogstad: Yeah. I mean, and this comes, maybe brings us around to who is the buyer and who is the audience, and who do we need to be thinking about when we’re designing sales and marketing programs. And really we’re, we’re shifting into the place of the Gen Z buyer by 20 30, 70 5% of buyers are gonna be Gen Z. [00:19:12] Ashleigh Vogstad: They’re gonna control 12 trillion in. Spend [00:19:16] Vince Menzione: by 2030. ’cause we, we’ve been, we’ve been saying that the millennial is the new buyer the last three years. I think Jay said it right here at this stage. [00:19:23] Ashleigh Vogstad: Mm. [00:19:24] Vince Menzione: Um, so now it’s Gen Z. [00:19:27] Ashleigh Vogstad: And they’re buying online. Yeah, they’re buying in marketplaces. Yeah. So a stat recently was that roughly half of them made purchases on the social platforms of YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok in the last month. [00:19:39] Ashleigh Vogstad: I mean, that buyer behavior of being inside. Social type application and directly making a purchase. And I think in the B2B world, we need to take lessons from here and start thinking more front and center than we even have been around marketplaces. I mean, part of my reason for being in Silicon Valley this week was to celebrate a $12 million transaction that happened via Marketplace and two years ago that would’ve been a huge deal. [00:20:06] Ashleigh Vogstad: Huge, [00:20:07] Vince Menzione: huge. [00:20:07] Ashleigh Vogstad: And, and it still is a really big deal, but these things are becoming. More and more common experiences. Very much so. We need to be there and in that conversation. [00:20:16] Vince Menzione: So how are you thinking about it? How are you directing your clients to behave or act around it? What are you, what are you doing exactly that we could take to this community perhaps and share with them. [00:20:28] Ashleigh Vogstad: I’ll bring it back to the authenticity piece because you need to have a product that delivers value first and foremost. There is, there is no substitution for that. Yeah, and what I would say is. One of my professors at Oxford, Eric Zow, he has this theory that I’m really digging into and finding very fascinating, which is that for the last several decades we’ve been in the attention economy, and that’s shifting to the trust economy. [00:20:55] Ashleigh Vogstad: Now the attention economy is about selling to human beings. Yeah. It’s about the, the business model is essentially that you need human being eyeballs on lists of recommendation links. Yeah. Whether that’s from Google or from, you know, searching, shopping on Amazon, you get this list of recommendation links and the economic engine that drives that business model is advertising. [00:21:19] Ashleigh Vogstad: Now, if you look at something like the Amazon versus Perplexity lawsuit, the whole underlying premise is around the shift of no longer selling to humans directly, but of selling to machines, or in other words, agents who are making purchases, s on behalf on your behalf. And an agent isn’t going to be razzle dazzled by some inauthentic story. [00:21:44] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:21:44] Ashleigh Vogstad: They’re gonna be looking for third party validation on Exactly. You know, they need to be sure that they’re making the right decision. [00:21:51] Vince Menzione: They’re gonna look at surveys, they’re gonna look at customer comments. Like if I went through my Amazon site and I was looking to see what people said about the purchase or the product and specifically Exactly. [00:22:01] Vince Menzione: The agent’s gonna do this on my behalf, is what you’re saying. [00:22:04] Ashleigh Vogstad: This is what I’m saying. Yeah. And, and. I believe that to layer on top of, you know, Eric Z’s philosophy, I’ve been thinking about this in terms of the hyperscaler world, and I think that this is the time to lean into co-selling partnerships. [00:22:18] Ashleigh Vogstad: Yeah, because being third party validated by somebody like AWS Microsoft and having all that co-sell data, what are your recent wins? Yes, that’s really high integrity, trusted data source for an agent to make a purchasing decision, and marketplaces are a key part of that. [00:22:35] Vince Menzione: So we’ll move from AI will take a, a more active role in the marketplace. [00:22:40] Ashleigh Vogstad: I definitely believe so. [00:22:42] Vince Menzione: Which makes total sense. I, you know, we’ve been doing this for nine or 10 years now, and when I was at Microsoft, we started co-selling. In fact, it was, uh, Aaron Feiger was up on stage yesterday talking about it. Right? January of 2016, co-selling began. [00:22:55] Ashleigh Vogstad: Mm. [00:22:56] Vince Menzione: And there were only a few companies doing it. [00:22:59] Vince Menzione: Right. So she worked with one of the very first ones that were doing it. Uh, the challenge we have today is there are tens of thousands of partner organizations in the marketplace that are all trying to get the attention of the Microsoft sellers. Hmm. As, or the Google sellers or the AWS sellers and tell their story. [00:23:19] Vince Menzione: And a seller only has so many minutes in a day, they have a quota that they have to hit. These quotas are tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars of annual quota of cloud consumption. And I wanna sell my $50,000 widget, whatever it is. Yeah. Right. And I, I don’t understand why I’m not getting a callback. [00:23:38] Vince Menzione: And this, this is the dilemma we’ve faced because of, because of this, uh, scarcity of time and this over overwhelming of tech, you know. Tech, tech buyers trying to make this all happen, so now the AI can come in and help me solve for it as a seller, right? [00:23:55] Ashleigh Vogstad: The AI is definitely acting as an interface to make recommendations to field sellers in different organizations and. [00:24:04] Ashleigh Vogstad: To, to kind of take this on a, a tangent. Dupes. So a dupe. I know people of my generation, we’d think about this like a knockoff Right. You know, a knockoff handbag. [00:24:15] Vince Menzione: Yep. [00:24:15] Ashleigh Vogstad: Dupes have exploded. [00:24:16] Vince Menzione: Fake. Fake Rolexes. [00:24:18] Ashleigh Vogstad: Exactly. The fake Rolex for sure. And I think it was in December, P WC rolled out a survey. 81% of Gen Z were planning to purchase a dupe this holiday season. [00:24:29] Vince Menzione: That’s wild. [00:24:30] Ashleigh Vogstad: Dupes can be, you know, we gave luxury, good examples, but Louis [00:24:34] Vince Menzione: Vuitton and yeah. So, [00:24:35] Ashleigh Vogstad: but furniture, these sorts of things. And the important takeaway here for tech is the same principle will land, is that people are looking for value out of a product, not necessarily a name brand. AI is accelerating this whole process, and agents are gonna be looking at the same thing. [00:24:56] Ashleigh Vogstad: They’re looking for that authenticity in terms of the actual product value. So, you know, beware there’s lots of disruption happening in the market right now with this dupe mentality, which is actually a cultural shift talking about I appreciate value over a superficial. Brand name. In some cases, there’s also a, a small contrary trend where certain luxury goods are rising because yes, things are never that simple. [00:25:22] Vince Menzione: So you work with a lot of these tech companies, a lot of SaaS companies, is we, we call them ISVs, we also call them, uh, software development companies. Now we keep changing these acronyms around. Uh, there’s been a lot of, uh, consternation in that segment, I would say, around ai. Right, because a lot of them are getting told that they’ll be outta business in a few years. [00:25:43] Vince Menzione: Mm-hmm. I think Satya Nadella famously said this last year that SAS will go away. Right? He’s predicting the demise. How do you help some of these organizations to differentiate? And there’s some of these are huge value organizations. We have have them in the room with us, ServiceNow and Veeam and Adobe. [00:26:01] Vince Menzione: Um, how do you help them achieve their results? ’cause that’s what you, you know, your organization is really helping these organizations to achieve their pinnacle as a partner. What do you, what do you say to them now and how do you help them through this time? [00:26:16] Ashleigh Vogstad: I’m on the side of the fence that I really can’t see an organization ripping out something like Salesforce, Adobe, ServiceNow. [00:26:24] Vince Menzione: Agreed. [00:26:24] Ashleigh Vogstad: I mean that the amount of change management and. The extent to which these, these platforms are embedded, actually running and operating organizations. I personally, if, if we’re calling those companies, SaaS companies, I don’t agree that that layer is gonna go away. I mean, we’re seeing these organizations lean into AI in a huge way to borrow Microsofts. [00:26:50] Ashleigh Vogstad: Term, you know, they’re all becoming frontier firms. [00:26:54] Vince Menzione: Yes. [00:26:54] Ashleigh Vogstad: So where I would go to, to answer that question, we do work with many, you know, organizations on that caliber, on things like their marketplace strategy on how to light up the fields of different hyperscalers. It really does come down to things like having a strong drumbeat with the Microsoft field, celebrating your win stories. [00:27:15] Ashleigh Vogstad: Maybe that’s where I’ll land as Please do the marketer, because it sounds so simple, and I don’t know why we kind of continue to come back to this, but we’re talking about that third party validation and really, um, in order to have that, like what the hyperscalers want is you jointly celebrating success. [00:27:36] Ashleigh Vogstad: Here’s the kicker. Publicly. [00:27:38] Vince Menzione: Publicly, [00:27:39] Ashleigh Vogstad: you know, you need a customer story on your website, a press release that contains a quote from your customer. Ideally, also a quote from an executive at one of the hyperscalers. Like, actually lean in to live the value of your better together story. And when you do that, when you, when it comes around to partner of the year time, and we talk to you about, okay, what client stories are we gonna feature? [00:28:03] Ashleigh Vogstad: We’re even gonna know because when we Google you, we can see the public press of the joint wins that you’ve been celebrating. And I can tell you that that is a huge indicator on whether or not you’re well-placed to be in the 4% of partners who actually win Partner of the Year award’s. [00:28:20] Vince Menzione: Fascinating to me. [00:28:21] Vince Menzione: ’cause to me it would feel like table stakes maybe ’cause where we sit is ultimate partner and where this room sits with all the top partners that I just assume that everybody follows that. That, that guidance. [00:28:34] Ashleigh Vogstad: Mm. [00:28:34] Vince Menzione: And so this is really impactful and I want to get here because I know you spent a lot of time here and we’ve talked about it before, but I think the partner of the year awards, when we first met many years ago, that was a you, you’ve expanded the business, but that’s still a core mission and and value that you bring to the community and to the partner ecosystem is helping them through this process. [00:28:55] Vince Menzione: So I know that that’s gonna be coming up soon, so I thought maybe we’d spend a couple moments on that. [00:29:00] Ashleigh Vogstad: Partner of the Year awards, regardless of which partner, I mean, Salesforce has their own awards there. There’s more and more award programs coming out, and they’re a great way to celebrate the incredible work that your organization has done. [00:29:13] Ashleigh Vogstad: Jay McBain is brilliant on this. He’ll talk a lot about the increase in valuation. Yeah. The, the increase in stock valuation or the likelihood that if you’re looking to be acquired, that you’re acquired within 12 months of a partner of the year win it. It’s really impressive. There is strong business value there. [00:29:33] Vince Menzione: He like, he likes, he likes to tell the story of that when the award is handed to them and they go back into the audience, that the private equity people are all over them right then and there and making offers. I mean, that’s the visual that you get [00:29:47] Ashleigh Vogstad: and it’s very powerful. Yeah. Very powerful. It’s very powerful and it, it can make it worthwhile to invest in the process, but don’t invest in the process if you haven’t been investing in the process for the 12 months. [00:29:57] Ashleigh Vogstad: Prior, [00:29:58] Vince Menzione: exactly. [00:29:58] Ashleigh Vogstad: The Microsoft field or you we’re talking about Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards. They need to know about your win that that needs to be top of mind for them. Yeah. How much Azure revenue is it driving? Was it a huge marketplace? Build sales and. You know, one of the questions I get asked a ton, everybody wants to know how do we get money out of the hyperscalers? [00:30:20] Ashleigh Vogstad: How do I get access to marketing development funds or all these different programs? Yeah. You know, at Microsoft, some of these programs are like EI and customer investment funds or Azure Accelerate, you know, and there’s millions and millions and millions of dollars in these, these buckets of funds, but. [00:30:36] Ashleigh Vogstad: An interesting point of view is that it’s actually a scorecard metric for many people at Microsoft who have partnership roles for you to be drawing down those funds. [00:30:45] Vince Menzione: Yes. [00:30:45] Ashleigh Vogstad: You know, your interests are actually aligned here, and so again, when it comes to Partner of the Year awards, how much money have you pulled down? [00:30:54] Ashleigh Vogstad: How much have you been an activating partner of key Microsoft programs that they’re pushing? What are you doing with marketplace rewards? How are you resing? Those into your business. These are the types of things that you really wanna be thinking about. Sitting it. You know, this time of year we probably will get the awards were likely be due in July. [00:31:13] Ashleigh Vogstad: They haven’t officially announced timelines, but you’ve got a few months to start moving these pieces into place. [00:31:18] Vince Menzione: And there are quite a few of them. And to your point, Nina, when she was up on stage here yesterday, there were at least 10 or 12 award. Uh. Funding categories that were on her, that were on her slide. [00:31:31] Vince Menzione: Her partner, her partner slide. So, [00:31:33] Ashleigh Vogstad: and what great looks like for a partner is that you understand your end-to-end funnel as it is mapped to Microsoft’s SEM model, the Microsoft customer Engagement model. Mm-hmm. The first stage there, inspire and design. That’s really the marketing space of lead generation. [00:31:50] Ashleigh Vogstad: So how are you generating leads with webinars, in-person, event activations, digital campaigns, and then at the very end, in the fifth column, you have the Microsoft outcomes that you’re driving. Yes. Whether that’s Azure consumed revenue, marketplace build sales, co-pilot, monthly active usage, these sorts of things. [00:32:10] Ashleigh Vogstad: And in each of those SEM swim lanes. There’s Microsoft funding associated to it. And that’s one of the things that Nina Harding was showing yesterday. When and where does it make sense to make requests for EA funds versus Azure accelerate the MCI funding? There’s different workshop proof of concept funding, and those all fall at specific stages in that EM model. [00:32:33] Vince Menzione: And what you’re also pointing out in this conversation is that the co the partners need to understand that mm, they need to understand MM. We talked about it years ago. I’ve had, haven’t had anybody on stage recently talk about m You could probably take us through that if we wanted to devote some time here, uh, and then understand all of those categories and how to access those funds. [00:32:52] Ashleigh Vogstad: Yeah, it’s critical and. The number one place we point partners, if you want a quick overview of what that looks like is to Microsoft’s FY 26 solution playbooks. Nice. They’re available on the web for download. There’s, well, there used to be three, but they’ve added a few agen being, being one. So, so there’s a handful of, they had [00:33:11] Vince Menzione: simplified it, now they’re, now they’re expanding it back again. [00:33:14] Ashleigh Vogstad: Yeah, exactly. I think there’s now a breakout for security as well. Yes. So take a look at those playbooks. It will map programs and incentives very specifically to each solution area and to each sales play that are gonna be available to you. And then we’re always happy to guide people through the details [00:33:32] Vince Menzione: as well. [00:33:32] Vince Menzione: I love that. I love that. And reach out to the. Ashley is just amazing at this process. I’ve, I’ve watched her for years now, work with some of the top, what have become the pinnacle partners of Microsoft and with the award season coming up. So we wanna make sure we have a plug there. But I also wanna talk about like, podcasts with you. [00:33:50] Vince Menzione: Um, you’ve been on this podcast multiple times, been in the studio before doing this, and I understand you have your own podcast now. So tell us about that. [00:33:58] Ashleigh Vogstad: Yeah, Vince, I just wanna say. As a friend and a mentor. You’ve been so inspiring. Thank you. And I think from years ago when we met, there was this seed in my brain of, you know, I, I should really get out there. [00:34:13] Ashleigh Vogstad: And you talk a lot about growth mindset and fear setting is, is one of Tim Ferriss’s terms? Yes. And models. [00:34:21] Vince Menzione: I love Tim Ferris. I’ve been, been a fan of his for 10 years now. So that’s settled. We all got started with this. Sorry. Sorry, I [00:34:26] Ashleigh Vogstad: interrupt. No, no, not at all. [00:34:27] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:34:28] Ashleigh Vogstad: And. I think it’s just been, it’s been back there. [00:34:31] Ashleigh Vogstad: Yeah. That I’m really passionate around having voice is how I think about it. And as a marketing agency, we’re really amplifying the voice, um, or helping companies to find their voice, particularly in hyperscaler partnerships. And what better way to assist, you know, authentically the amazing people in our network, in our community and our clients than with our own channel where we can celebrate their stories and success? [00:35:00] Vince Menzione: Very cool. [00:35:01] Ashleigh Vogstad: So the podcast is called Transcending Tech. It’s about [00:35:06] Vince Menzione: very cool transcending tech. Just so you don’t [00:35:08] Ashleigh Vogstad: transcending tech. [00:35:08] Vince Menzione: It’s out there now. [00:35:10] Ashleigh Vogstad: It, we just released our first episode. Okay. I think two days ago. [00:35:13] Vince Menzione: So by the time we’re live, yes. We’ll, we’ll be able to access it. Good. [00:35:17] Ashleigh Vogstad: You will be able to access it. [00:35:18] Ashleigh Vogstad: The first episode is with Alyssa Fit. Patrick from Elastic. [00:35:21] Vince Menzione: Oh my goodness. [00:35:22] Ashleigh Vogstad: And the concept of the podcast, it’s long form and it’s really about getting to the people behind the platforms. [00:35:29] Vince Menzione: Very cool. [00:35:29] Ashleigh Vogstad: And to the stories that transcend technology. So we’re here to get to know the human beings behind. Agents. [00:35:38] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:35:38] Ashleigh Vogstad: And taking the time to, to go in deep and really explore that. [00:35:43] Vince Menzione: So I am excited to see all the developments here with the, with the podcast. And you’re gonna be joining us again. You were just here, you in Boca. But you’ll be joining us again in Bellevue. Not too far a little bit. Closer ride or travel, uh, for you to come to Bellevue. [00:35:57] Vince Menzione: We’re gonna be hosting the first ultimate partner live, which is our larger events in this beautiful facility, this new Intercontinental hotel, which is fabulous. And, uh, you’re gonna be taking a more active role. Your leadership around AI is. Palpable and we’re gonna love to have you on stage and talking through some of the changes. [00:36:17] Vince Menzione: I, I suspect by the time we get to Bellevue we’ll have a lot more to talk about. That hasn’t even happened yet. [00:36:23] Ashleigh Vogstad: Yeah, I’m really excited. I’ll have been through my next cohort at at Oxford, kind of coming out hot from there back to the Pacific Northwest, and really excited to just share the learnings and Awesome. [00:36:35] Ashleigh Vogstad: Genuinely. It’s also helping me in my own research, really formulate particularly around the role of ag agentic AI in hyperscaler partnerships. [00:36:43] Vince Menzione: That’s so cool. And then what I’ll say is this, and I don’t know, we on the space perspective, and I’ll, the team will probably hang me for this because we haven’t done it yet, but if you wanna bring the podcast along with you, there might be, we’ll see if we can find an extra room for you to set up. [00:36:58] Vince Menzione: If you wanna do some interviews while you’re. In, at the event. So [00:37:02] Ashleigh Vogstad: you’re so generous, Vince. [00:37:03] Vince Menzione: That’s [00:37:04] Ashleigh Vogstad: amazing. [00:37:04] Vince Menzione: Thank you. Again, I can’t say for certainty yet, but, uh, let’s see, let’s see what happens with that. So, uh, let, let’s, uh, you know, I always, we, we have known each other for years and I just assume everybody knows this amazing Ashley sda. [00:37:19] Vince Menzione: But, um, we always, I like to ask this question because it helps us kind of dig in a little bit about you personally. And it’s my favorite question. I ask all my guests this question now, and it’s, um, you’re hosting a dinner party, Ashley, you are, pick a pace, place, you wanna have this dinner. We could talk about parts of the world. [00:37:36] Vince Menzione: You’ve traveled all extensively. Uh, and you can invite any three people, guests from the present. Or the past to this amazing dinner party you’re throwing. Whom would you invite and why? [00:37:52] Ashleigh Vogstad: It’s a beautiful question, Vince and. Instantly I go to a place in terms of the location, since you asked that part, which was surprising. [00:38:01] Ashleigh Vogstad: I, I like that is my home. I, I love where I live up in Whistler, Canada and [00:38:08] Vince Menzione: I hear it’s beautiful. I haven’t been yet, [00:38:10] Ashleigh Vogstad: it’s so gorgeous and it’s, it’s my own sanctuary. You know, I live on a plane 75% of the time and coming back to that place is really grounding for me. Yes. So, so I would love to have it at, at my home and to invite. [00:38:24] Ashleigh Vogstad: Pippa Malrin would be one. She, Pippa [00:38:26] Vince Menzione: Malrin. [00:38:27] Ashleigh Vogstad: Yeah. She’s sure. I get an advisor to the White House for many administrations. Okay. She’s an economist and she just has really interesting perspective on geopolitics. Uh, I follow her on Substack ’cause she’s a big substack. Okay, now [00:38:41] Vince Menzione: I need to look. This is awesome. [00:38:42] Vince Menzione: The [00:38:43] Ashleigh Vogstad: mal, she’s fantastic. I would say Dr. Lisa Sue, the CEO, Dr. Lisa of a md. [00:38:49] Vince Menzione: Okay. Yes, yes. I know a little bit about her. [00:38:51] Ashleigh Vogstad: So she was one of Time Mag, I think she was the only woman in Time Magazine’s, group of people of the year, which was basically this AI cohort in including, you know, the Elon Musks of the world. [00:39:03] Ashleigh Vogstad: Uh, it’s just so impressive what she’s doing with leadership in a MD. I don’t think it’s as public as. Anybody else who is on the cover of that magazine, but it’s incredibly powerful. [00:39:14] Vince Menzione: Yeah, they’ve made a com uh, turnaround’s probably not the right word, but it seems like they’ve made a tremendous, uh, gains turnaround probably in the last few years. [00:39:23] Ashleigh Vogstad: I would say that many would say turnaround. And then lastly is Dr. Fefe Lee, who. For those in the AI space, particularly AI research space. I mean, she’s arguably number one. Um, she’s leading at Stanford currently. [00:39:37] Vince Menzione: Wow. This is gonna be a heady conversation, but you know, I love conversations. So if you don’t mind, maybe I’ll bring dessert and come, come in for a few moments, maybe do some podcast interviews there. [00:39:48] Vince Menzione: How’s that? [00:39:49] Ashleigh Vogstad: That sounds absolutely perfect, Vince, [00:39:50] Vince Menzione: so, so good. So good to have you here today. So great. Good to have you in the studio again, and, uh, excited for transcends and all the great work you’re doing. Um. This time with ai. I think you, uh, we talked about this a little bit last night. I think you’ve made some really wise, personal and professional decisions about how to lead and how to take this forward and not kind of rest on your laurels, which you see so many organizations do People fear change [00:40:17] Ashleigh Vogstad: Hmm. [00:40:18] Vince Menzione: And you embrace it, which is just, it’s astounding to me that you do that and, um. I look forward to working with you in the future and for years and years to come. So I will ask you one more question though, because we are still at the precipice of these tectonic shifts and we’re still early in 2026. And so for our listeners and our viewers today, what would be the one thing you would tell them that they need to go do now that possibly they haven’t done yet as they prepare for 2026 and beyond? [00:40:52] Ashleigh Vogstad: The generic phrase would be, be curious, but if we want an action, it would be go build an agent. [00:40:59] Vince Menzione: Go build an agent [00:41:00] Ashleigh Vogstad: if, if you haven’t already. Yeah. And, and I’m, yeah. Speaking hopefully to like a business audience, you know, to, to anyone. Yeah. Really, um, find something that is interesting that you’re passionate about. [00:41:12] Ashleigh Vogstad: A, a use case that it doesn’t have to be some big thing. It could be quite mundane, but just something that’s gonna help you in your role. It’s, you know, what is creativity is an interesting question, and I can tell you that sitting down and hands-on keys and actually creating something is, is a beautiful, powerful experience. [00:41:32] Vince Menzione: Yeah. Awesome. All right. We’re all gonna go create agents this weekend, so thank you for listening. Thank you for viewing the Ultimate Guide to partnering on our YouTube channel, ultimate Partner, and on each end of your platforms at the Ultimate Guide to partnering. Thank you for being with us and supporting us all these years. [00:41:50] Vince Menzione: Thank you. Don’t forget, ultimate Partner Live is coming soon, May 11th through the 13th in beautiful Bellevue, Washington. I hope to see you there.

Ramos grew up in Bellevue and is the associate professor in the Department of Health Promotion of the UNMC College of Public Health and is also involved in the School of Public Health's Center for Reducing Health Disparities. Her research interests have an emphasis on Intercultural communication, cultural competency, and coalition-building, and she was given UNMC's distinguished scientist award in 2025. 

Lee and Jamie are joined by resident Super League expert Mike Butcher to preview the upcoming home SL game against Hull FC

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Spring Lake Church – BellevueSermon: The Beauty & Means of ObedienceTeacher: Jeff LedererPassages: John 14:15-31This week's sermon, "The Beauty & Means of Obedience" with Pastor Jeff Lederer is from John 14:15-31. Jesus shows that obedience demonstrates our love, is empowered by the Holy Spirit, and is encouraged by His promised presence and return. Be reminded that we are not left as orphans but given His peace and power to follow Him. We're glad you're here—come grow with us.springlakechurch.org | springlakechurch.org/give | springlakechurch.org/prayer

Taurean Small on the congressional depositions on both Hillary and Bill Clinton // Steve Wiebe — the "King of Kong" on his legacy as a video game professional // Charlie Commentary on Bellevue's improving property crime rates // Gee Scott on airline etiquette // Jeff McCausland on nuclear negotiations between the US and Iran // Remembering the Nisqually quake, 25 years ago yesterday // Paul Holden with a weekend planner

Welcome back Pauper fam! It's TMNT spoiler time and even though we're not the biggest fans of this set, there are still plenty of cool Pauper cards to discuss. Will pizzas take over the meta? Is Cast Down stock at an all-time low? We chat about all this and more, including some very cool innovations of the Gates archetype! Thank you as always for listening!Join our Discord! https://discord.gg/kdvSavFkpzCheck out our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@CommonGroundMTG2026 Listener Survey: https://forms.gle/UoEtF4U6VjKWvozu9Upcoming Pauper Events:March 7th - Win-Some-Beta-Basics Pauper Tournament @ Hobby Town, Bowling Green KY: https://topdeck.gg/event/pauper-event-win-beta-landsMarch 15th - $2.5k Pauper Trial @ NRG Series,  Elmhurst IL: https://www.nrgevents.gg/conventions/nrg-events-elmhurst-il/events/nrg-series-magic-25k-pauper-trialMarch 15th - Rhein-Ruhr Series @ The Phoenix Inn, Oberhausen, Germany: https://tcgevents.net/events/ea013140738716eMarch 21st - The next Court of Commons Quarterly @ Enchanted Gaming Emporium, Murray KY - https://topdeck.gg/event/court-of-commons-quarterly-pauper-yippeeApril 25th - London Pauper Showdown 4 "The Darkest Ritual" - https://www.badgerbadger.org/event/london-pauper-showdown-4-the-darkest-ritual/North Carolina-Area Listeners: Check out the Piedmont Pauper League @ Dragon's Hoard, Greensboro NC! 6 monthly tournaments culminate in a grand prize: travel stipend and entry into CGCup4 this summer! March event registration is now open: https://www.spicerack.gg/events/3038379The Cascadia Pauper Circuit presented by Pauper PNW: www.PauperPNW.org Next event is March 8th!Nashville-Area Thursday Pauper League @ Middle TN Gaming in Bellevue: https://www.facebook.com/p/Middle-Tennessee-Gaming-61567309793600/Any questions or feedback for us? Email us at: commongroundmtgpod@gmail.comhttps://twitter.com/CamPlaysMagichttps://twitter.com/Hippo_1124Thomas' BlueSky: @thomasdoesalot.bsky.social Hippo's BlueSky: @hippo2112.bsky.social 

Steigende Preise verschärfen die soziale Spaltung. Was ist mit Schloss Bellevue? Den „Tagesanbruch" gibt es auch zum Nachlesen unter [t-online.de/tagesanbruch](https://www.t-online.de/tagesanbruch) Anmerkungen, Lob und Kritik gern an podcasts@t-online.de Den „Tagesanbruch“-Podcast gibt es immer montags bis freitags ab 6 Uhr zum Start in den Tag vorgelesen von einer freundlichen KI-Stimme – am Wochenende mit einer tiefgründigeren Diskussion. Verpassen Sie keine Folge und abonnieren Sie uns bei [Spotify] https://open.spotify.com/show/3v1HFmv3V3Zvp1R4BT3jlO?si=klrETGehSj2OZQ_dmB5Q9g), [Apple Podcasts](https://itunes.apple.com/de/podcast/t-online-tagesanbruch/id1374882499?mt=2), [Amazon Music](https://music.amazon.de/podcasts/961bad79-b3ba-4a93-9071-42e0d3cdd87f/tagesanbruch-von-t-online) oder überall sonst, wo es Podcasts gibt. Wenn Ihnen der Podcast gefällt, lassen Sie gern eine Bewertung da.

durée : 00:03:10 - Les petits bonheurs, ici Pays de Savoie - Passionnés de lego depuis longtemps, Colette et Christian avait tellement de stock de pièce qu'ils ont fini par en faire commerce et créer leur boutique Brick fun à Saint martin Bellevue. Vous aimez ce podcast ? Pour écouter tous les autres épisodes sans limite, rendez-vous sur Radio France.

On this episode of Wash Talk: The Carwash Podcast, host Kyle Alexander sits down with Pat Shannon, president of the Heartland Carwash Association (HCA), for a wide-ranging conversation on the association's mission, the evolving needs of operators and what's ahead for the Midwest carwash market. Shannon begins with an overview of HCA's role in serving carwash owners, operators and suppliers across the region. He shares how the association focuses on education, connection and practical resources tailored to regional operators navigating a rapidly professionalizing industry. From there, the conversation shifts to current trends shaping operator decision-making. Tune in to find out what he's hearing from members regarding equipment investment, operational efficiency, technology, labor challenges and more. A major focus of the episode is the 2026 HCA Product Show, taking place March 24 and 25 at the Beardmore Event Center in Bellevue, Nebraska. Shannon outlines the event's theme, education sessions and keynote speaker, while explaining what sets the Heartland Product Show apart from larger national events. Shannon shared how the show creates meaningful engagement opportunities for vendors and suppliers, including details on the Heartland Express shipping program designed to simplify logistics and reduce costs for exhibitors. The episode wraps with a look ahead at how the HCA plans to evolve its mission and events to continue supporting operators and suppliers in the years to come, reinforcing its role as a trusted regional partner in the carwash industry. For more information on HCA and its 2026 Product Show, please visit www.heartlandcarwash.org.

Spring Lake Church – BellevueSermon: Jesus, Our HopeTeacher: Jack GuerraPassages: John 14:1-14In this week's sermon, Pastor Jack Guerra explores John 14:1-14. This message calls us to trust Jesus for a better place, have courage and hope in the face of death, and rest in God's love even in suffering. Discover Jesus as Lord and giver of life who defeats death for all who believe. We're glad you're here and welcome you to grow with us.springlakechurch.org | springlakechurch.org/give | springlakechurch.org/prayer

Some of the biggest names in AI are setting up shop in Bellevue. It’s a blow for Seattle, where city leaders have worked to attract new tech innovators to combat high levels of office vacancies. Puget Sound Business Journal tech reporter Jason Pasion will tell us what’s so attractive about Bellevue. Read more of Nick's reporting on this here and here. We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed. Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode OverviewIn this episode of The Articulate Fly podcast, host Marvin Cash catches up with master casting instructor Mac Brown for another installment of Casting Angles — a recurring segment dedicated to fly casting education and the business of fly fishing instruction. Recorded just after Mac returned from back-to-back appearances at the Denver and Bellevue stops of the Fly Fishing Show, the conversation covers his experience on the road, a spontaneous three-day steelhead spey fishing trip squeezed between shows and what's ahead on the Fly Fishing Show calendar. Mac and Marvin dig into the practical value of two-handed casting techniques on single-handed rods — particularly for tight Appalachian streams and summertime smallmouth fishing on rivers like the Little Tennessee, Pigeon and Tuckaseegee. Mac makes a compelling case that mastering the roll cast and a module of switch/spey casts (snake roll, snap T, snap C, Z cast, A cast) transforms an angler's ability to present flies on any water, not just big steelhead rivers. The episode wraps with late-winter fishing observations, a teaser about the upcoming Lancaster Fly Fishing Show and a reminder that Mac's guide schools, casting schools and specialty classes are bookable on his website.Key TakeawaysHow to expand your presentation options on tight Appalachian streams by adding spey and switch casts to your single-handed rod repertoire.Why the roll cast is the essential foundation of all two-handed casting, and why building it first unlocks the entire spey/switch toolkit.How to use two-handed delivery moves — snake rolls, snap Ts, Z casts and others — for summertime smallmouth fishing.When to capitalize on late-winter warmup windows by monitoring water temperatures, even when air temps feel comfortable for trout fishing.Why fishing from the tail of a long pool with two-handed casting techniques gives you a longer drift, better positioning and keeps big fish unaware of your presence.Techniques & Gear CoveredMac Brown covers the full spectrum of spey and switch casting moves applicable to single-handed rods, including the roll cast, snake roll, snap T, snap C, Z cast and A cast — what he describes as a "module of eight or nine" setup-and-deliver sequences that, once internalized, become intuitive rather than mechanical. A key theme is translating techniques typically practiced on grass into real fishing scenarios: managing 50–60 feet of shooting line in your fingers, reading pool geometry and making decisions about river-left vs. river-right presentations coming out of winter. Mac also references the two-day and three-day specialty casting schools he runs throughout the season — focused formats on wet fly and dry fly specifically — available through his website under specialty classes. No specific fly patterns or rod brands are mentioned in this episode, keeping the focus squarely on casting mechanics and tactical decision-making.Locations & SpeciesThe episode references several western North Carolina rivers as prime proving grounds for switch and spey techniques on single-handed rods,...

Welcome back Pauper fam! This week we're joined by our friend Ryan Adams to discuss how to assess different metagames in Pauper using data analysis in new and creative ways. It's not just about winrate and matchups; how granular can we get when we take sideboards and variance into account? You can follow along at home with Ryan's slides linked below (as long as you're not driving!) Thank you as always for listening!Join our Discord! https://discord.gg/kdvSavFkpzCheck out our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@CommonGroundMTGRyan's Presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1s7nTnHavgPjCd90cRg6TuX2GStZSL1zTbqfTZC2Bzro/edit?usp=sharingUpcoming Pauper Events:March 7th - Win-Some-Beta-Basics Pauper Tournament @ Hobby Town - Bowling Green, Kentucky: https://topdeck.gg/event/pauper-event-win-beta-landsMarch 21st - The next Court of Commons Quarterly, Western Kentucky area - More details TBA!North Carolina-Area Listeners: Check out the Piedmont Pauper League @ Dragon's Hoard, Greensboro NC! 6 monthly tournaments culminate in a grand prize: travel stipend and entry into CGCup4 this summer! February event registration is now open: https://www.spicerack.gg/events/2941402The Cascadia Pauper Circuit presented by Pauper PNW: www.PauperPNW.org First events are February 21st and March 8th!Nashville-Area Thursday Pauper League @ Middle TN Gaming in Bellevue: https://www.facebook.com/p/Middle-Tennessee-Gaming-61567309793600/Any questions or feedback for us? Email us at: commongroundmtgpod@gmail.comhttps://twitter.com/CamPlaysMagichttps://twitter.com/Hippo_1124Thomas' BlueSky: @thomasdoesalot.bsky.social Hippo's BlueSky: @hippo2112.bsky.social 

Santiago de la Torriente, institutional sales de Bellevue Asset Management, analiza cómo fue el 2025 para las empresas de renta variable europeas y cuál fue su rendimiento. ¿Está habiendo una gran rotación dentro de los mercados bursátiles? “La rotación es fruto de unas cadenas de suministro que se están saneando”, afirma el invitado. También añade que se ha dado gracias a “unos planes de expansión de Europa, donde el tejido empresarial europeo lo va a absorber”. ¿Cuáles han sido otros factores fundamentales? El invitado señala que algunos de ellos son “la recuperación de los PMIs” y “el hecho de que la política económica europea, con los tipos a la baja, son un entorno favorable a estas empresas”. El entrevistado analiza las bolsas europeas y como estas les han ido recortando terreno. “El año pasado el dólar hizo estragos en las carteras de los clientes europeos”, afirma el invitado. También destaca que “aunque el S&P hiciese una rentabilidad similar a las compañías europeas, si les quita el 10-11% del dólar, te quedan rendimientos menores”. ¿Cómo influyó esto a los inversores europeos? El experto explica que “este es un factor fundamental por parte los europeos para darse cuenta de que tienen que tener un menor riesgo por la parte de divisas, porque hacen daño”. ¿Los inversores han conseguido valoraciones atractivas o estas empiezan a ser exigentes? El institutional sales de Bellevue Asset Management aclara que “las presentaciones de resultados están siendo buenas, las compañías están creciendo y a pesar de que las acciones hayan tenido un buen comportamiento, esas valoraciones siguen siendo atractivas”. ¿Por qué las pequeñas compañías europeas tienen estas valoraciones más bajas? Santiago de la Torriente explica que “a nivel de deuda están en línea con la media” y que “los márgenes no han hecho más que ampliarse en los últimos cinco años”.

Bipin Subedi, MD, explores how health systems can better care for patients with severe mental illness who cycle between hospitals, homelessness, addiction, and the justice system. He argues that acute inpatient treatment, while essential, is rarely sufficient on its own. Preventing the revolving door of repeated hospitalizations requires psychiatry to extend beyond hospital walls and build integrated systems that follow patients into the community.Drawing on his leadership at NYU Bellevue and his background in forensic psychiatry, Dr. Subedi describes a model of care built on sustained relationships, flexibility, and continuity. He reflects on how programs like transitional housing and mobile post-discharge support can provide the “scaffolding” patients need when insight and executive function are impaired by psychosis. The conversation closes with practical guidance on strengthening medication adherence—particularly through thoughtful use of long-acting injectables—and on meeting patients where they are to advance more humane, effective care.Bipin Subedi, MD, is Associate Professor of Psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and Chief of Psychiatry at NYU Bellevue Hospital. He is a forensic psychiatrist with prior leadership experience in New York City's jail system.▶️ Watch Insights on Psychiatry on YouTube01:36 Bellevue's Mission and Rising Clinical Complexity04:43 Extending Care Beyond the Hospital Walls05:15 Bridge to Home and Transitional Stabilization10:44 Forensic Psychiatry and the Justice System14:17 Psychosis and Impaired Insight15:53 Post-Discharge Scaffolding and Critical Time Intervention18:47 Preventing Relapse with Long-Acting Injectables22:36 Meeting Patients Where They AreThis episode is intended for psychiatrists, mental health clinicians, and health system leaders interested in serious mental illness and innovative models of integrated community care.This discussion is for educational purposes and does not substitute for individual clinical judgment or patient care. Senior Producer: Jon Earle

This episode continues our conversation with Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton, who overcame childhood health challenges to achieving success in figure skating displays the value of resilience and perseverance. Scott shares his unique story as an adopted child, along with a humorous recollection of an early ice-skating mishap that nearly stopped his career before it even began.⁣⁣Scott is an Olympic Champion, cancer survivor, television broadcaster, motivational speaker, author, husband/father and eternal optimist! During his figure skating career, Hamilton's list of achievements includes his Olympic gold medal, over 70 titles, awards, and honors. In 1990, Hamilton was inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame and in that same year, he became a member of the World Figure Skating⁣ Hall of Fame.⁣⁣⁣Following his mother's passing and his own survival of stage 3 testicular cancer, Hamilton launched the Scott Hamilton CARES Foundation (Cancer Alliance for Research, Education and Survivorship) in 2014, with a mission to improve cancer patient survivorship by supporting world class cancer research and the highest quality patient treatment and care. The same year, he founded the⁣ Scott Hamilton Skating Academy, in partnership with the NHL's Nashville Predators, at Ford Ice Centers in Antioch, Bellevue and Clarksville, TN,⁣ to offer students programs to help them fall in love with ice skating.⁣⁣In a world full of complex cancer treatment decisions, understanding your choices is crucial. We stress the importance of being informed and seeking advice from multiple medical experts to understand the variety of options available. Our discussion touches on the holistic approach to health, including lifestyle changes and the life-changing impact of clean water. Discover how HealingStrong offers hope and support for those facing cancer, with strategies to rebuild the body, renew the soul, and refresh the spirit.  Embracing the idea of cancer as a blessing may seem counter-intuitive, yet can lead to resilience and a deepened faith. Find hope with your own empowering journey, and find your own path to healing and strength.⁣⁣Learn more about Scott HEREHealingStrong's mission is to educate, equip and empower our group leaders and group participants through their journey with cancer or other chronic illnesses, and know there is HOPE. We bring this hope through educational materials, webinars, guest speakers, conferences, community small group support and more.Please take advantage of our FREE resources below to help you along your health and healing journey: Support Group Directory Holistic Curriculum - Participant Guide Support Our Mission - Donate Additional Health Resources Listen to Previous Episodes Website: healingstrong.org

Spring Lake Church – BellevueSermon: Be Like JesusTeacher: Adam JacksonPassages: John 13This week's sermon highlights Jesus washing His disciples' feet as the ultimate picture of humble, sacrificial love. Jesus served others and calls His followers to do the same. Those cleansed by Jesus are called to serve, love, and live on mission like Him. True discipleship is shown through love for others, trusting Jesus even in weakness, and following Him with the promise of being with Him forever.springlakechurch.org | springlakechurch.org/give | springlakechurch.org/prayer

A revisit!!! The Olympics happening right now in Italy 2026 has encouraged us to share this two-part interview with you one more time, to give you a chance to hear it for the first time, listen again and share it with others.This episode features a conversation with Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton, who overcame childhood health challenges to achieving success in figure skating displays the value of resilience and perseverance. Scott shares his unique story as an adopted child, along with a humorous recollection of an early ice-skating mishap that nearly stopped his career before it even began.⁣⁣Scott is an Olympic Champion, cancer survivor, television broadcaster, motivational speaker, author, husband/father and eternal optimist! During his figure skating career, Hamilton's list of achievements includes his Olympic gold medal, over 70 titles, awards, and honors. In 1990, Hamilton was inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame and in that same year, he became a member of the World Figure Skating⁣ Hall of Fame.⁣⁣⁣Following his mother's passing and his own survival of stage 3 testicular cancer, Hamilton launched the Scott Hamilton CARES Foundation (Cancer Alliance for Research, Education and Survivorship) in 2014, with a mission to improve cancer patient survivorship by supporting world class cancer research and the highest quality patient treatment and care. The same year, he founded the⁣ Scott Hamilton Skating Academy, in partnership with the NHL's Nashville Predators, at Ford Ice Centers in Antioch, Bellevue and Clarksville, TN,⁣ to offer students programs to help them fall in love with ice skating.⁣⁣Embracing the idea of cancer as a blessing may seem counter-intuitive, yet can lead to resilience and a deepened faith.⁣⁣Learn more about Scott HEREHealingStrong's mission is to educate, equip and empower our group leaders and group participants through their journey with cancer or other chronic illnesses, and know there is HOPE. We bring this hope through educational materials, webinars, guest speakers, conferences, community small group support and more.Please take advantage of our FREE resources below to help you along your health and healing journey: Support Group Directory Holistic Curriculum - Participant Guide Support Our Mission - Donate Additional Health Resources Listen to Previous Episodes Website: healingstrong.org

Welcome back Pauper fam! This week Cameron and Thomas sit down with Ethan from Pauper Pacific Northwest (Pauper PNW) to chat about how we've each worked to build up our local Pauper scenes and how Pauper PNW has built out the Cascadia Pauper Circuit to best suit the needs of their community. It's a great chat with lots of insight for other aspiring community organizers and if you're in the Pacific Northwest area we highly recommend you check out this exciting new tournament series! Thank you as always for listening!Join our Discord! https://discord.gg/kdvSavFkpzCheck out our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@CommonGroundMTGThe Cascadia Pauper Circuit presented by Pauper PNW: www.PauperPNW.org First events are February 21st and March 8th!Upcoming Pauper Events:North Carolina-Area Listeners: Check out the Piedmont Pauper League @ Dragon's Hoard, Greensboro NC! 6 monthly tournaments culminate in a grand prize: travel stipend and entry into CGCup4 this summer! February event registration is now open: https://www.spicerack.gg/events/2941402Nashville-Area Thursday Pauper League @ Middle TN Gaming in Bellevue: https://www.facebook.com/p/Middle-Tennessee-Gaming-61567309793600/Any questions or feedback for us? Email us at: commongroundmtgpod@gmail.comhttps://twitter.com/CamPlaysMagichttps://twitter.com/Hippo_1124Thomas' BlueSky: @thomasdoesalot.bsky.social Hippo's BlueSky: @hippo2112.bsky.social 

In Chris's final episode, we reflect on his journey over the past 11+ years.In this episode, we say goodbye to Pastor Chris Hemmelman as he prepares to move from Bellevue, Nebraska to Woodstock, Georgia. We reflect on his journey from church planting resident to lead pastor at First City Church — and what he's learned along the way. Chris shares what he's learned about church planting, leadership development, risk-taking, and the slow, relational work of faithful ministry. The conversation closes with reflections on gratitude, presence, and trusting God in seasons of transition.Chapters:(0:00) Introductions: Chris's Farewell Episode(2:00) Discernment, Risk, and Residency(7:45) Lessons in Leadership Development(10:30) What Would You Tell Yourself 10 Years Ago?(15:20) Favorite Podcast Moments(22:40) Transition, Presence, and Prayers for What's Next

We're digging into downtown development on this Seattle City Makers episode. Skanska Executive Vice President & Regional Manager Charlie Foushee sits down with Jon to talk about the ecosystem that is urban development. Jon and Charlie discuss downtown's residential boom and the need for family housing; the importance of the ground-floor space; return to the office; trends in Seattle and Bellevue and much more. Join us for Seattle City Makers with Jon Scholes and guest Charlie Foushee.

Spring Lake Church – BellevueSermon: The Beginning of The EndTeacher: Jack GuerraPassages: John 12:12-36In John 12:12–36, Jesus is welcomed as King, yet many misunderstand who He truly is. Pastor Jack challenges us to know the real Jesus—not a version shaped by our expectations. Jesus reveals that true life comes through surrender and sacrifice, pointing to the cross as God's rescue plan. This sermon calls us to walk in His light, respond in faith, and follow Him with wholehearted trust.springlakechurch.org | springlakechurch.org/give | springlakechurch.org/prayer

Upcoming GeekWire Podcast Live Event: Join us from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb 12 at Fremont Brewing for a live recording of the GeekWire Podcast with Todd Bishop and John Cook. Free for Fremont Chamber members, $15 otherwise. Register here. This week on the show: Andy Jassy tells Wall Street that Amazon is planning $200 billion in capital expenses this year, mostly to build out AI infrastructure, and investors give it a thumbs down. Microsoft's financial results beat expectations but the company loses $357 billion in market value in a single day after investors learn the extent of its dependence on OpenAI. Meanwhile, OpenAI leases 10 floors of office space in Bellevue, lawmakers in Olympia propose new taxes impacting startup exits and high-income earners, and the bots get their own social network. In our featured conversation, recorded at a dinner hosted by Accenture in Bellevue, GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop sits down with computer scientist and entrepreneur Oren Etzioni to talk about AI agents, the startup landscape, the fight against deepfakes, and what good AI leadership looks like. Etzioni is co-founder of AI agent startup Vercept, founder of the AI2 Incubator, a venture partner at Madrona, and the former founding CEO of the Allen Institute for AI. With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop. Edited by Curt Milton. Music by Daniel L.K. Caldwell.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amazon just axed over 2,200 workers in Washington State—software engineers, product managers, the whole tech bro army—and guess what? More cuts are coming. Seattle and Bellevue are hemorrhaging jobs while their socialist leadership proposes millionaire taxes, new payroll taxes, and every anti-business policy imaginable. What did they expect? Companies like Amazon, T-Mobile, and Expedia are slashing positions as Washington State screams "businesses get out!" from the mountaintops. Meanwhile, local politicians want employers to "responsibly support workers" while actively chasing those same employers out of the state. The billionaires have already fled to Florida and Texas—Jeff Bezos said see ya!—and now the middle-class tech workers are feeling the pain. Is anyone surprised that when you combine pandemic over-hiring, AI automation, and straight-up hostility toward business, you get a bloodbath? How many more anti-business policies does Washington need before companies stop pretending Seattle is business-friendly? Subscribe and hit the bell—this downturn is just getting started.

5pm:  Could the “Jock Tax” in Washington lead to the sale of the Seahawks? // Rantz: Washington Democrats fought for college athletes just so they could tax them // Someone left a gun in a Bellevue elementary school. The district didn’t tell parents for almost a month // The Washington school walk-outs have parents taking their kids out of school // Dismal math scores in WA should have been an emergency years ago // Guest - Nate Hamilton - Owner of "Nate's Vintage" Paranormal sop in Ocean Shores, WA // "Washington safe place to talk all things Paranormal" // Letters 

Welcome back Pauper fam! The 3rd Common Ground Cup is in the books and y'all showed up in a BIG way to make it the best one yet! 80 Pauper players came to do battle and win their share of $2000. Between handling coverage, watching the action, and interacting with/meeting some of you, it was an incredible day and we're so grateful to be a part of this awesome community. Our champion, Michael Modena, took down the whole thing playing Spy Combo and he joined us for an interview part-way through the pod. Stay tuned for details on CGCup 4! Thank you as always for listening!Top 16 decklists will be available soon! (They have been submitted to MTGTop8.com)Join our Discord! https://discord.gg/kdvSavFkpzCheck out our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@CommonGroundMTGUpcoming Pauper Events:2/7 Win-A-Dual @ Through The Decades, Louisville KY https://www.facebook.com/ThroughTheDecadesSportsCardsGamingNorth Carolina-Area Listeners: Check out the Piedmont Pauper League @ Dragon's Hoard, Greensboro NC! 6 monthly tournaments culminate in a grand prize: travel stipend and entry into CGCup4 this summer! February event registration is now open: https://www.spicerack.gg/events/2941402The Cascadia Pauper Circuit presented by Pauper PNW: www.PauperPNW.org First Seattle-area events are February 21st and March 8th!Nashville-Area Thursday Pauper League @ Middle TN Gaming in Bellevue: https://www.facebook.com/p/Middle-Tennessee-Gaming-61567309793600/Any questions or feedback for us? Email us at: commongroundmtgpod@gmail.comhttps://twitter.com/CamPlaysMagichttps://twitter.com/Hippo_1124Thomas' BlueSky: @thomasdoesalot.bsky.social Hippo's BlueSky: @hippo2112.bsky.social 

Seattle's downtown office vacancy just hit a record 39.1%—nearly four out of every ten commercial spaces are empty. But sure, let's keep blaming remote work instead of the real culprits: sky-high taxes, a millionaire tax driving out wealth, America's highest minimum wage killing restaurants, and a mayor who's never successfully run anything now experimenting with socialist grocery stores. Meanwhile, Amazon and Microsoft are fleeing to Bellevue, tech layoffs are accelerating, and "McStabbies" remains a worldwide symbol of Seattle's public safety disaster. The city has one of America's most beautiful settings overlooking Puget Sound, yet businesses are choosing literally anywhere else. When private companies can't make the math work and your solution is more taxes and DEI hires, you're not in a "struggle"—you're in a self-inflicted economic nosedive. Is anyone surprised that 40 years of Democrat control produced the highest vacancy rate in North America? How much more evidence do Seattle voters need that these policies destroy prosperity? Drop your thoughts below, and if you're tired of watching beautiful cities commit economic suicide, subscribe for more reality checks the mainstream media won't give you.

Seattle just elected a socialist mayor while simultaneously pushing a statewide millionaire's tax AND a corporate payroll tax—as Amazon and Meta announce thousands of layoffs. What could possibly go wrong? This is the perfect storm of economic suicide: tech companies already bleeding jobs due to AI disruption, a downtown core that's been obliterated, and politicians who think boycotting hometown companies like Starbucks is good leadership. We're watching the fastest way to turn a booming tech hub into the next Detroit. Amazon's already moving employees to Bellevue to escape Seattle's madness, and 21 out of 23 relocation clients are fleeing the region entirely. When you layer new taxes on top of record unemployment, guess who pays the price? Spoiler alert: it's not the millionaires—they'll just leave, dumping the tax burden onto the middle and lower classes who can't afford to escape. Is this the scariest economic moment since the Great Recession, or just what happens when socialists get the keys? How long before Seattle turns out the lights like they did in 1971? Drop your predictions below, and if you're tired of watching cities self-destruct in real-time, smash that subscribe button.

Spring Lake Church – BellevueSermon: The Plot to Kill JesusTeacher: Arlen ChastainPassages: John 11:45-12:11In John 11–12, we see how the raising of Lazarus draws sharply divided responses to Jesus. While many believe, others harden their hearts, revealing that even undeniable miracles do not convince everyone. This sermon explores how the light of Christ always provokes a reaction from darkness, how God sovereignly uses even human bitterness to accomplish His redemptive purposes, and how true worship often looks extravagant to those who don't understand the depth of what Jesus has done. As opposition intensifies, we are invited to examine our own response to Christ—resistance, indifference, or wholehearted worship.springlakechurch.org | springlakechurch.org/give | springlakechurch.org/prayer

In this episode, Andrew B. Wallach, Ambulatory Care Chief at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and Ambulatory Care Chief Medical Officer for NYC Health + Hospitals, joins the podcast to discuss how health systems can better support and sustain the workforce. He shares lessons learned from the pandemic, the role of internal float pools in managing patient surges, and strategies for building resilience and preparedness across ambulatory care teams.

Welcome back Pauper fam! It's Common Ground Cup time once again and we're all very excited to bring you another great event! We invited our friend Tristan Aita (SoIMBAGallade on MTGO) to join us in the commentary booth this time around so he joins us this week to chat about his thoughts on the format, what decks he expects to do well, and even some bonus "bounty" prizes for folks interested in trying out some under-appreciated cards. It's an excellent pre-tournament romp through the expected format that left us even more stoked to make it all happen this weekend! Thank you for your support as we continue to grow this thing and, as always, for listening.Join our Discord! https://discord.gg/kdvSavFkpzCheck out our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@CommonGroundMTGNashville Food Recs Document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iNQF3Bq_uP_if8A8T0Pldq-DI24dmXtocN-0864sqak/edit?usp=sharingUpcoming Pauper Events:The 3rd Common Ground Cup ($2k Pauper Tournament) - Saturday January 31st @ Game Knight, Columbia TN: https://topdeck.gg/event/the-3rd-common-ground-cup  Featuring live-streamed coverage and commentary, plus a trophy and more for the winner! CGCup3 Livestream: Twitch: twitch.tv/gameknighttn | YouTube: youtube.com/@GameKnightTN2/7 Win-A-Dual @ Through The Decades, Louisville KY https://www.facebook.com/ThroughTheDecadesSportsCardsGamingNorth Carolina-Area Listeners: Check out the Piedmont Pauper League @ Dragon's Hoard, Greensboro NC! 6 monthly tournaments culminate in a grand prize: travel stipend and entry into CGCup4 this summer! February event registration is now open: https://www.spicerack.gg/events/2941402The Cascadia Pauper Circuit presented by Pauper PNW: www.PauperPNW.org First Seattle-area events are February 21st and March 8th!Nashville-Area Thursday Pauper League @ Middle TN Gaming in Bellevue: https://www.facebook.com/p/Middle-Tennessee-Gaming-61567309793600/Any questions or feedback for us? Email us at: commongroundmtgpod@gmail.comhttps://twitter.com/CamPlaysMagichttps://twitter.com/Hippo_1124Thomas' BlueSky: @thomasdoesalot.bsky.social Hippo's BlueSky: @hippo2112.bsky.social 

The Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification can be a career game-changer. What's the best way to study for the exam? How do you stay motivated through months of preparation? What's the difference between taking the exam in-person or online? We discuss this with Kelly Heuer, PhD, CAPM, VP of learning at PMI in Brooklyn, New York, USA; Fernanda Sa, PMP, procurement coordinator at Meta Reality Labs via Mackin Talent in Bellevue, Washington, USA; and Prabhjeet Singh, PMP, project manager at MedStar Health in Washington, D.C. Key themes01:09 Why earn the PMP certification? 04:52 How to create a study plan for the PMP exam09:07 Ways to stay motivated while studying for the PMP12:01 How PMI can help you prepare for the PMP exam17:03 Taking the PMP exam online or in-person20:40 How the PMP certification affects project careers23:41 Advice for the PMP certification exam

   According to Missouri lawmaker Mike Jones, KC Mayor Quinton Lucas has $500 million in the Port KC slush fund that he's offering the Royals to build a ball park in KCMO.  Jones says this should require a vote... but that isn't how this game is played.  There was no vote in Kansas.  Give Q credit for finding a way, even if it feels wrong.  And if this number is true, the Missouri offer could actually top the Kansas offer.    In Kansas, the Senate Democrats Chief of Staff has told people in his circle the Royals to Overland Park is a "done deal," but the announcement has to wait.   Information obtained by KKHI shows that Cory Sheedy believes the city of Overland Park and T-Mobile are delaying the inevitable move.  This would all make sense as the mortgage holder of the land has told T-Mobile they will not be renewing the lease when it expires.  The Royals and OP, at all cost, must not allow 5000 T-Mobile jobs leave KC and relocate to Bellevue, Washington.  This is tricky,    Tom Homan is on the ground in Minneapolis and set to meet with the Mayor to calm down the insanity in that city.    Andy Reid basically fired Matt Nagy and now he's lobbying to get him hired because Nagy is a "gem."  The Royals sign a deal with Circa Sports Book for premium experiences with the team and at Kauffman Stadium.  We have some tasty Super Bowl nuggets for you, a moment of silence at a hockey game goes wrong and the daredevil climber on Netflix last weekend got ripped off.

Upcoming Event + What's NewBefore jumping into today's questions—there are some good ones—I want to share a quick note.I'll be at the Annual RetireMeet on March 7 in Bellevue at the Maidenbauer Building. I'll be there all day at the booth and will be discussing the inside story on diversification, including new thinking on rebalancing that I believe you'll find useful.Christine Benz — Director of Personal Finance and Retirement Planning at Morningstar How to retire successfully, with practical, research-backed retirement planning guidance.Tom and Don — longtime members of the Truth Tellers Club Retirement evolution and income planning, including sustainable withdrawal strategies and real-world retirement insights.A speaker from Dimensional Fund Advisors The psychology of investing and how investor behavior affects long-term results.Kevin Peterson — insurance expert who helped us select new coverage this year Getting the most from Medicare and making smart coverage decisions.An estate planning attorney Building an effective estate plan, including wills, trusts, and beneficiary strategies.Joe Saul-Sehy, co-host of Stacking Benjamins Common mistakes that make retirement miserable—and how to avoid them.The event is available in person and online. In-person attendees receive lunch. Online attendees pay a small fee that supports nonprofits focused on financial education.I also spent time this week with Daryl Balls, working on updates to the quilt charts and new tables. We're excited to share those soon, along with the next Boot Camp series, starting later this month.Questions of the DayHow can I avoid getting scammed by a bad financial advisor? 04:03How can my parents decide when to start Social Security? 07:08How do I identify my target asset allocation if I am 41 and plan to retire at 65, taking Social Security at 70 and with a pension? 08:47Can you help me build a sample asset allocation? 11:46What should I learn first to understand asset allocation? 14:10How do target date funds fit into asset allocation? 17:42How does VTSAX fit into this strategy? 17:04My 401(k) only offers Vanguard Total Market, Mid-Cap Index, and Small-Cap Index. Can I build a good portfolio? 20:40If I'm contributing monthly, should I rebalance using contributions or make separate trades? 27:59I have a closed 401(k) with a target date 2050 fund. Is that a good core holding? 28:50A Final ThoughtI recently spoke with an investor who realized they didn't need to draw from their investments at all, thanks to Social Security and a pension—even with nearly $2 million invested.When you don't need the money, you get to choose your medicine—aggressive or conservative.We're excited about the upcoming Boot Camp, new tables, and educational tools. If we can do a better job teaching, our hope is that you'll do a better job investing—for yourselves and for those who count on you. Links Mentioned in This EpisodeInvestor EducationGet Smart or Get Screwed Truth Tellers – Social SecuritySocial Security Made Simple by Mike PiperMike Piper – Oblivious Investor When to Take Social Security: Pros & Cons – Jim Dahle (White Coat Investor)https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/when-to-take-social-security-a-pro-con/Asset Allocation & Target Date FundsTwo Funds for Life – Chris PedersenSound Investing Portfolio Series (Boot Camp – prior year)Ultimate Buy & Hold StrategyFine-Tuning Your Asset AllocationEventAnnual RetireMeet – Bellevue (March 7)Research & ToolsQuilt Charts and Tables (Paul Merriman / Daryl Balls)